


Breath Mints

by silver_shot



Category: Naruto
Genre: F/M, Mystery, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-13
Updated: 2020-06-10
Packaged: 2020-11-25 19:42:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 28,883
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20917520
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/silver_shot/pseuds/silver_shot
Summary: Their home no longer exists with the life it once had – in fact no settlement thrives anymore; they exist only in a snapshot that contradicts time itself. Families within their own homes sleep in a slumber that they cannot wake from. Those that were chatting on the street prior to the event simply drop their heads and remain unresponsive.





	1. Chapter 1

Lee picks up a box full of shiny blue containers; the size of which could fit snugly in ones palm. Kiba notices Lee make the discovery, and looks over his shoulder to ask, “what have you found, dude?”

Lee spins on his heels, and announces with enthusiasm, “friends, I have found something!”

Kiba huffs, mumbling; “I know that, I'm asking _what _you've found”. From a distance, Uchiha Sasuke and Haruno Sakura look up from their own search.

“What have you found?” Sakura calls out.

Lee brandishes one of the small boxes proudly, “breath mints!”

Sasuke shoots Sakura a look, then turns back to Lee, “that's good, we'll probably need it,” his eyes fall on Kiba – who notices the slight.

“Oi,” he shouts, “say that to my face”.

“I did,” replies Sasuke.

Sakura blows a strand of hair from her face, and heads towards another shop. In the hopes of restocking supplies: medicine paraphernalia, food, and something to entertain Kiba with, Sakura had decided beforehand that should they come across a certain shop, a certain peek inside could not hurt.

The kunochi turns back to note Lee's attention being diverted elsewhere, Sasuke continuing to scour a local bakery for supplies, and Kiba's continued insulted rant drones on.

Sakura ducks into the shop: a high class boutique that herself and Ino had always dreamed of being able to afford. They'd first seen the shop featured in the pages of a fashion magazine. The dresses, and the whole shop in fact remained intact – in a somewhat eerie sense. Sakura shakes off the feeling, and begins running her hand down a lovely pink frock.

For once, the price tag did not deter her.

“Unless you're planning on sharing the dress, I suggest you look in another shop for supplies”.

Sakura jumps at the voice. She spins around to see Sasuke before her; shooting a somewhat disapproving look.

So entranced with the dress, she'd not even notice Sasuke approach, “oh um...I'm just looking”.

He smirks, “Sakura...”

“I mean, I wouldn't mind sharing it, if that's the only problem”.

Sasuke takes half a step forward, “unless you find real supplies here, Sakura, its best to move on”.

Her hand falls away from the dress, “okay, yea,” she mumbles.

.

.

Their home no longer exists with the life it once had – in fact no settlement thrives anymore; they exist only in a snapshot that contradicts time itself. Families within their own homes sleep in a slumber that they cannot wake from. Those that were chatting on the street prior to the event simply drop their heads and remain unresponsive.

Sakura hates traversing through the streets of yet another unknown, stand-still village; though it is required. They need supplies. Their raids would last them several weeks, at the most.

“I can't wait until the day where we wont have to do this anymore,” Kiba mutters whilst adjusting his backpack.

Lee rattles his containers of breath mints encouragingly, “we will have a hefty bill to pay, what with all the goods we have stolen”.

Kiba blinks, “wait...what?”

Sakura shakes her head, and walks between the two, “relax Kiba, this is a – special circumstance”.

Sasuke; walking behind the pack, remarks quietly, “still stealing”.

Sakura huffs quietly, and throws the Uchiha a look, “thank you, Sasuke-kun”.

Sasuke smirks, and nods accordingly.

.

.

Their temporary base is an old shrine that had been long abandoned, even before the – _event_.

Sakura takes most of the food and medical paraphernalia to store away in their respective locations. Sasuke offers to help, grabbing some of the unspoiled meat they'd found. Kiba and Lee take to storing the tools they'd found outside.

Sakura picks up one of the bags containing most of their canned food. She stocks it into predesignated cupboards. Within the bag she picks up a thin book – a historical novel. She'd found it whilst searching through a general store. Her initial thought had been to get it for Sasuke.

Sakura turns around, and peaks around the corner to find Sasuke packing the meat into their portable cooler. She fiddles with the book in her hands, and exhales.

She steps out, and approaches Sasuke who looks up as she nears.

“Hey,” says Sakura.

Sasuke closes the cooler, “hey”.

Sakura pauses for longer than needed, then holds out the book for Sasuke to take; biting her tongue.

He furrows his brows, “whats this?”

“I...thought you might like it”.

“A book”.

“Yes”.

He stands up, “where did you find this?”

“During the search,” says Sakura, “I thought it might be something you'd like”.

Sasuke takes the book from her grasp, “it was unnecessary to use your time looking for something like this, instead of supplies”.

Sakura blinks, intending to reply back with something to defend herself with, but Kiba chooses this moment to duck into the room, and ask, “hey Sakura, do you mind if you give us a hand out back?”

The kunochi turns to the new presence, Kiba continues on saying that they need to lift something, “its super heavy, its something no normal – eh, well...I was going to say human but...”

“I get it,” Sakura interjects, holding up her hand so Kiba need not continue babbling.

Kiba nods, and Sakura walks towards him, and out of the room.

Once out of Sakura's line of sight, Kiba turns back to Sasuke with a disappointed look, and a sight shake of the head.

Sasuke frowns at the intended meaning behind such an expression.

.

.

Sasuke thumbs the pages of the small book; so far, it is an interesting read. He is no longer as impressed by Sakura's ability to pick up what would interest him anymore – she has excelled in this field for far too long now.

But the talent, in regards to him, is too one-sided.

“Seriously, you should throw her a bone,” Kiba remarks whilst ungracefully plonking himself on the log beside Sasuke.

The ex-missing nin eyes his new company, then turns his gaze back to the book, “where is Sakura?”

“Helping Lee clear some stuff from the training ground behind this place,” Kiba yawns, and stretches his hands above his head, “yea, its best to have somewhere to keep our skill up?”

“For those that had any”.

“Ha, ha,” Kiba replies, “god, you're a bastard. I don't know what she sees in you”.

Sasuke pauses, “can't say I know either”.

Kiba snorts, and leans forward to prop his elbows upon his legs, “I'm serious though, she's trying really hard and you're giving her nothing”.

Sasuke clenches his jaw, and considers his reply, “this doesn't concern you”.

“I know,” says Kiba, “also – I don't care. Sakura's nice, she's really nice–”

“What's you point,” snaps Sasuke.

Kiba sighs, “my _point_, is; either cut her loose, or go for it. You've been sending her mixed messages – so she's been doing only things for you that a friend would do. But you've even turned those down so either be honest, and properly reject her, or give her something to go for. Its kinda sad seeing you string her along”.

“I'm not stringing her along–”

“Whatever,” Kiba interjects, “look, we all have to work together to try and solve this...whatever it is that's affected everyone. I wouldn't choose to be stuck with you if I had the choice, _so_, to avoid any drama in the future, can't you just be honest with her?”

Sasuke curls his fingers into his palm, “what she's looking for, this is no time to pursuit it”.

“She literally just gave you a book, dude – all you had to say was thanks. Couldn't even do that?”

Sasuke upper lip twitches in annoyance, “idiot”.

“Oh, _right_,” Kiba throws his hands up in a mock-defence, “_I'm_ the _idiot_”.

.

.

Eavesdropping is not a skill she'd proudly tout outside her role as a kunochi. She'd merely overheard the conversation when heading over to ask if anyone wanted to help her cook – however she did stay to hear out the rest of it.

So she isn't entirely without fault.

At least – that's the thought that mulls through Sakura's mind as she shuffles her way to the kitchen to begin preparing something for the group.

They had managed to find quite a bit of meat, and it would be best to serve it now before it spoils. It had been a while since they'd had any. Rifling through the cooler, Sakura picks enough slabs of steak to satisfy the team. She begins cooking the meat, and starts on washing the rice to boil thereafter.

Sasuke walks into the kitchen just as Sakura sets the stove. “Hey,” he says, diverting her attention away from her pot of uncooked rice.

“Hi,” she replies back. She turns back to the stove, and bites her bottom lip softly.

_What she is pursuing – there is no time_

There had been nothing but olive branches of friendship offered, and yet the interpretation of Sasuke's is that her ulterior motive is a state with far more serious implications than a simple comradeship. Sakura sets the stove to the proper temperature, then turns back to Sasuke to ask if there is anything he needs.

He offers his help.

Knowing that there are still vegetables that need to be cut, Sakura denies him anyway, “I'm almost done,” she says.

He frowns, and steps forward, “the cabbage and mushrooms are uncut”.

“Which I will get onto,” Sakura replies.

Sasuke exhales, and approaches the counter. He picks up the cabbage, a knife, and a cutting board. Sakura watches with a blank expression as he begins cutting. She purses her lips, “I said I will get onto it”.

“It'll be done quicker if both of us work on it”.

She cannot argue him on logic – only stubbornness. Whilst Kiba and Lee would gladly agree that patience with Sasuke were one of Sakura's virtues, this instant in time would contradict that simple notion; for Sakura would like nothing more than to take the knife from his grasp, and ask him to leave.

She is only human.

And there is only so much she can take.

Though her frustration is evident upon her expression; Sasuke peripherally catches her within her thoughts, instead of tending to the rice. “Sakura,” he says, “is there something wrong?”

Her eye flickers over the glint of the steel knife, then she glances towards the uncut pile of mushrooms. “Yes,” she replies, “I really don't need your help”.

Sasuke frowns, “that doesn't matter”.

She nods, “okay”.

“Are you angry with me?” he asks.

Her mind screams at her not to say anything, because the simplest route to take would merely be to deny everything, and go back to cooking. But instead, “I overheard what you told Kiba”.

Sasuke puts down his knife.

Sakura internally groans – must her brain and mouth always disagree like this? Although a small part of her is glad that she will not be the one keeping secrets in the eventual miscommunication between them. Sakura picks up a second knife and cutting board, and finds a place for herself on the counter to cut the mushrooms.

Sasuke tries not to roll his eyes, “is that all you wanted to say?”

No; it isn't, “sorry, I know I shouldn't have been eavesdropping”.

Sasuke pauses, “I didn't expect you to be the one apologising”.

Sakura turns to him; hands free of her blade, mind attentive to only the conversation at hand, “what you said bothered me, but in a way, I don't have the right to...well, I mean I wasn't supposed to hear what you said–”

“But you did”.

“Yes, I did”.

Sasuke clears his throat. His eyes flicker briefly to the doorway, then back to the kunochi, “I should have told you, before but...thank you, for the gift”.

She frowns, “don't say that just for the sake of what Kiba has told you”.

“You're over analysing this Sakura”.

“Oh, I am?”

He can sense her lack of sincerity, “what I told Kiba...”

“Yes, that,” Sakura takes a step forward, “I'm not looking for what you think I'm looking for Sasuke-kun – not anymore. I'm not naïve, I get where we are. I get whats going on. I only offer what Kiba and Lee would offer you”.

“No, you aren't, Sakura,” Sasuke replies, coldly.

She scrutinises his expression, “that isn't for you to say. I just want us to coexist as peacefully as possible whilst we search for Naruto–”

“It isn't that simple,” Sasuke interjects, “it isn't like that between you and I”.

“How so?”

“It just...isn't”.

Sakura is left without words for a reply. She hesitates, but eventually turns back to her cutting board. She grasps the knife in her hand, but does not begin cutting. “Do you...really think that I couldn't put aside my–”

“Its not that, Sakura,” Sasuke interjects; his hand shoved in his pocket, “you don't need to attempt to...pursue a friendship with me, if that's what you're trying to do...”

“I don't treat you any differently than Kiba and Lee, do I?”

He sighs, and pinches the bridge of his nose – Sakura frowns at the reaction; _what is she doing so wrong?_

“No...you don't treat me differently than Kiba or Lee,” Sasuke remarks.

Sakura turns back to him, “then whats the problem?”

“I...” he pauses, “I don't know”.

She is at her limit with such a reply, “right – okay...lets just finish cutting the vegetables”. Sasuke opens his mouth to reply, but Sakura stops him with a shake of the head, “please, just – lets just finish. We can talk about this later”.

.

.

Of course, _later_ is a concept of time that can never truly be reached – if one were smart enough. Sakura believed herself to be smart enough. So far, she'd been able to have a pleasant dinner with no fuss, and a peaceful slumber within her room of the shrine without the topic being brought up again, and now they pack to get ready for a brief scouting expedition.

“We don't need everyone for this though, do we?” Kiba asks, not even changed from his pyjamas.

“I'm going to guess,” Sakura begins, “that you rather not join us, Kiba?”

The shinobi shrugs, “hey, you're just searching the area for clues, then coming back”.

“We could use your assistance, Kiba-san. Cover more ground?” Lee offers.

Kiba shakes his head, “nah – hard pass”.

.

.

Their task for today consisted of scouting the un-trekked area ahead of the shrine. Before the – _event_, Naruto had been stationed elsewhere for a long-term mission; one of a highly confidential nature.

Their goal to find him has purely gone on as continuous stabs in the dark. With Kakashi and the elders incapacitated back at Konoha, and Naruto's mission only being discussed verbally with said Hokage, the group unfortunately had nothing to go off to find the Jinchuruki – their search has lasted nearly two weeks.

“I believe this time, we will find him,” Lee booms, ecstatic about the potential prospect.

Sasuke and Sakura share a look. “What makes you so sure, Lee?” asks the kunochi.

Lee shrugs, “before...what happened, this area was under some political tug-of-rope. At least, that is what Kiba has told me”.

“So you think Naruto would have been stationed here because of it,” Sakura surmises.

“Yes,” nods Lee, “I do”.

“Why send an idiot to sort out a political affair?” Sasuke interjects, turning to Sakura instead of Lee.

The kunochi bites down a smile, “come on, Sasuke-kun. Naruto has trained for this type of negotiation”.

“And yet, he should be the last person that we send. He still isn't capable”.

“Why makes you so sure, Sasuke-san?” Lee interjects, missing the intention of Sasuke's to only maintain a conversation with the kunochi beside him.

“Because, even during the days leading up until – you know,” Sasuke turns to Lee, and nods for him to understand, “Naruto showed no signs of a person with any means to handle a diplomatic exchange–”

“But it wouldn't be like he'd test such skills on you,” says Sakura.

Sasuke turns back to her, “maybe so, but I don't believe he even wanted these duties to begin with. He wanted to be Hokage, but he didn't want the responsibility. His goals to become Hokage were always naïve – to make people acknowledge him. Its childish. There is more to being a leader than simply being the strongest”.

“That's quite an accusation,” says Lee, “Naruto-san has always had a good heart–”

“But that doesn't mean Sasuke-kun is wrong,” Sakura interjects, catching her gaze with Lee's, “Naruto's...well, sense of _decency_ has nothing to do with this. Besides, Sasuke-kun knew Naruto the best out of us all,” her eyes briefly flicker to the man in question, “he – he would know. And so, maybe this trek is actually an effort in futility”.

Sasuke smirks beside her; she'd caught onto the implication of his message, but Lee remains clueless.

“Sakura-chan, I'm afraid I don't understand”.

Sakura points ahead to the road they now walk upon, “this leads to a village that may have been the post Naruto was stationed at, correct?”

Lee nods, and urges for her to continue.

“So,” says Sakura, “its likely that with such a mission, you know, being the sole diplomat for Konoha, Naruto may have, well, gone elsewhere”.

Sasuke nods, “this mission is probably pointless”.

“But even so,” Lee exclaims, “we must look anyway. We should be thorough”.

Sakura sighs softly, with a smile, “that's true,” she says.

Sasuke looks away, and clenches his jaw.

.

.

The village in question gives a new meaning to the word _decadence_. “Oh god, Ino would love this,” Sakura mumbles to herself. Sasuke catches her staring at the buildings of the main street in awe.

He clears his throat to grab her attention, “we should split up, and start combing the area”.

Lee comes up to the pair, and says, “I will take the area of the high courts and embassy's”.

“Alright,” says Sasuke, “Sakura, where will you go?”

She purses her lips, “the shopping district?”

He smirks, “try again”.

She sighs, “alright, I'll look through the bars, and then check the...bathhouses?”

Lee interjects, asking if Naruto were the type to value cleanliness, and whether the bathhouses would be a worthwhile trip. Sakura giggles at the remark whilst Lee; catching onto how his question sounded, is quick to tack on at the end, “oh course, I mean this with no disrespect to Naruto-san”.

“Its a fair assumption,” Sasuke replies to Lee, “he wasn't exactly the cleanest bastard...but its worth a shot anyway, he was a pervert”.

“No he was not,” Lee exclaims.

Sakura sighs, and puts a comforting hand upon Lee's shoulder, “yes Lee, yes he was”.

“Okay,” says Sasuke, turning his head towards the main street for a brief look, “I'll check any weapons shop, or training grounds,” he turns back to his team, “we'll meet back here at sunset if we've found nothing”.

.

.

The bars had been Naruto-free; only mid-day drinkers had filled up those places. Now they remain trapped within their own mind; whilst time around continues on, their unattended drinks the last thing they grasp.

Sakura heads to one of the bathhouses; the closest to her current proximity. By nature of design, the water still flows in the open area; currently hidden from view by the bamboo partition – but the sound is heard clearly. Looking around, this particular type of bathhouse appears far too _upper class_ to pique Naruto's fancy. Regardless, Sakura heads towards the receptionist desk, and picks up the check-in book.

Her eyes scan the last day of activity. Naruto's name is scribbled in with his familiar handwriting.

Sakura eyes the entry, then looks up to the sound of someone else entering the bathhouse.

Sasuke stops at the entrance, his view falling on her with a quizzical expression.

“I believe that we agreed that I'd be searching the bathhouses,” says Sakura.

Sasuke relaxes his stance, and approaches the kunochi, “I found Naruto's temporary quarters, a hotel room down the street”.

“I see,” replies Sakura, “well, I found that on the last day, Naruto had checked into this bathhouse”.

Sasuke nods, “it was in his calendar, apparently this was something he was looking forward to”.

“The...bathhouse?”

“He may have been meeting someone here,” Sasuke surmises, stepping onwards towards the men's change room.

Sakura follows, but stops at the door, “what makes you say that?”

Sasuke calls out from inside, “...Sakura, you can come in if you like”.

The kunochi replies, “no I can't, that's the _men's_ change room”.

A beat passes, and Sasuke ducks his head out from the area, “...what did you say?”

Sakura frowns slightly, “um...that's the men's change room...”

A bemused nature becomes of his expression as Sasuke reaches out, grabs Sakura's wrist, and pulls her into the room. He lets go just as she finishes her remark of, “what are you doing!”

Once in, Sasuke nods for her to follow. The kunochi huffs, but abides nonetheless.

Sasuke has found Naruto's locker.

It is open, with only his jacket and shoes still inside. “So, either he left his clothes...”

“Or he hasn't left,” Sakura finishes.

There are several sections of the bathhouse; Sasuke divides each portion and assigns the areas equally between them. “This shouldn't take too long,” he says, “call out if you find him”.

Sakura nods, and heads off towards the upper level of the bathhouse.

.

.

Lee had never seen establishments of a political nature decorated in such a way. With Konoha choosing a more minimal feel with the Hokage tower and council rooms, the great hall of this village practically screams to be noticed, and talked about – which is why Lee stands in its atmosphere for far too long, basking in its nature.

But the inevitable thought of his mission comes into play. “Yes, of course, I must continue looking for Naruto-san,” he remarks to no one, but himself.

He begins by scouring the meeting rooms, and banquet halls of the village's main building. He find the leader of said village in his office; succumbed to the same fate as the rest of his town – the pen he'd been writing with is lazily gripped within his right hand.

Lee sighs, and continues onwards, “perhaps to one of the lord's abodes,” he speaks to himself, once more.

Surrounding the main building of the leaders are the abodes of the nobles that run the village. Men and woman of great power and wealth find their place beside the main political establishment. Lee chooses a house at random, and breaks in (which purely consisted of sliding open the front door).

He finds nothing but a family frozen in time, so he moves onto the next house. Then the next.

It isn't until the fourth house does Lee find something of interest – it comes to him as a _ dāo blade presses against his neck the moment his footsteps crosses the home's threshold. _

Without turning to note his attacker, Lee remarks, “I am not here to cause you harm. I am merely here to look for assistance”.

A voice – a woman's voice, answers him, “who are you?”

The shakiness of the blade against his skin indicates the weapon wielder's low level of combat knowledge. Lee knows he could simply break out, taking his attacker by surprise. But he decides for a more passive route, “I am a shinobi of the Leaf,” Lee replies, “my friends and I are looking for a way to save all those affected by this,” he pauses, “curse”.

The woman takes in his reply, “are you here to hurt me?”

“Absolutely not,” Lee responds, “I would never hurt an innocent. My duty is only to help those in need – that is my shinobi way”.

The blade moves away from his throat. He hears the sounds of the woman stepping back.

Lee turns to find an elderly woman; somewhat agitated, “well, whatever help you need, I doubt I will be able to assist you”.

She turns around, and picks up her sword's holder; sheathing the weapon. “A family heirloom,” the woman remarks.

Lee takes a step closer, and politely inquires, “ma'am, if I may ask – how are you unaffected?”

“How are you?” the woman retorts.

Lee blinks, “I'm...not sure”.

The woman stops her shuffling, then turns back to Lee; an eyebrow raised, “you don't know?”

“No”.

“Not even your friends have an inkling?”

Lee shakes his head, “we found each other the morning after when we searched our hometown to see who else had been unaffected. Unfortunately, we had been all that is left”.

The woman smiles, and nods for Lee to follow, “ah, the naivete of youth,” she mumbles.

Lee follows, “I'm sorry, is there something that we've missed”.

“Clearly,” replies the old woman, “there are only three types of people who have been unaffected by this, what is it you said, curse? Yes, curse”.

Lee frowns, quite evidently his interests have been piqued, “what do you mean?”

The woman smiles, “If there was a voice in your head that offers you the chance to obtain all your goals and desires, with merely the need to say ' yes ' as the only catch – would you not take it?”

Lee pauses, then replies that he supposes he would. “Although it sounds too good to be true”.

The old woman chuckles, “and that is one of the types of people who would not be caught in this spell. True hard workers, the ones that know your dreams can only be obtained by hard work,” she stops shuffling once more, and turns around to face Lee, “is that why you're here, young man? Do you fit that category? Did you say no to the voice that asked if you wanted to have it all?”

Lee thinks back to the night before; but is unable to find any recollection of an offer of any kind – the theory is a strange one. “I do not remember such a circumstance that you're stating. However I do believe that hard work is the only way up. I mean...for most of us”.

“You know of men and woman that rise up not through hard work?”

A brief lull passes, “I do”.

“Ah,” the woman nods, “I suppose that brings me to the other two categories that will survive”.

Lee perks up, and urges the woman to continue.

She turns back, and continues shuffling to another room. Lee follows.

“Well young man, can you guess the other requirements?”

Lee replies that he can't, and the old woman chuckles once more.

“Simply put, those that have already achieved a sense of fulfilment need not accept such an offer. There is nothing more that they need, they are happy”.

Lee takes in the information, “and the other type?”

“The other,” the woman repeats, “are those that simply do not know what they want”.

_ . _

_ . _

It is soap; all he had managed to find is soap – nice smelling soap, most likely something Sakura would like.

He thinks.

This shouldn't be so hard.

Such indecisiveness regarding a simple gift has never illicit such annoyance from him – yet this is Sakura he is considering.

He frowns, and looks on upon a shelf with three different coloured wrapped soaps – pink, green, and red.

Sasuke picks up the first soap bar, and smells it.

.

.

The old woman offers him tea and a plate of biscuits. Despite politely refusing, Lee somehow finds himself having an afternoon session with the elderly lady.

“So,” she begins, putting down her cup and saucer, “you say you and your friends are trying to save those affected by...well, the curse”.

Lee nods, ecstatic with his answer, “absolutely”.

“Do you and your friends have a plan?”

“Yes!”

The older woman waits, “...and...what is it?”

“I...” Lee pauses, “there is a very intelligent kunochi within our team”.

“Okay,” the old lady mumbles.

“And,” Lee continues, “she has come to the conclusion the what we are seeing here is a very old, very ancient form of genjutsu – or ninjutsu–”

“I believe your friend may be right,” The old lady interjects.

Lee nods, “yes, and she also believes that we'll need the combined efforts of the descendants of two ancient clans to be able to take down the spell – amongst that, the two shinobi she has picked are powerful beyond nature. We cannot lose”.

“Hmm, I see,” the woman smiles, reaching for a biscuit, “I suppose all the pieces are falling together”.

“Yes, very much so”.

“How many of the – erm, warriors has she gathered?”

“Only one,” Lee replies, “he had survived like the rest of us, the morning after”.

“Ah, that is convenient,” the woman softly remarks, “although it may be an issue if your second warrior has succumbed to the curse, unlike the first”.

Lee shakes his head, and chuckles, “that will not be a problem, Naruto-san will not fall as the other have”.

.

.

The top floor of the bathhouse has a grand total of six rooms that line the extravagantly decorated corridor. A single bed; grand is size is all that occupies the floor. The nature of this area is not lost on Sakura, this bathhouse were not a standard one – by any means.

She doubts initially that she'd find Naruto in such a place – but upon searching the third room within the area, she comes to negate that doubt with damning evidence.

Sakura finds Naruto in bed with a woman who she has not seen before. The covers drape his lower half, but she presumes that he is naked, as is the woman.

Both have succumbed to the same affliction as nearly all else has.

The circumstances do not look good.

Sakura turns around to call out to Sasuke, but stops when noticing something about the woman that sleeps beside Naruto – though 'sleep' may not be the right term for it.

The woman's hair colour is the same shade as hers. A soft pink; but something is off. Sakura smirks softly, and dispels the lingering genjutsu. The woman's hair fades back to brown.

She bites the inside of her cheek, and exhales in frustration. “Sasuke-kun,” she calls out, her voice echoing throughout the corridor, “I found him”.

He is by her side within seconds.

He chuckles at the scene before him, “shit, he's been taken”.

“In more ways than one,” Sakura mumbles under her breath.

Sasuke eyes her with amusement, “this is hardly the time, Sakura”.

The kunochi rolls her eyes, and stifles down a smile – he is right, now is not the time. Especially when the development reveals a major flaw within their plan.

How are they to wake Naruto?

“We should go and find Lee, and see what we can come up with,” Sakura remarks, folding her arms over her chest.

Sasuke nods, and turns to leave.

Sakura follows, then stops to ask, “Sasuke-kun, are you holding soap?”

Sasuke stops walking, and peaks over his shoulder towards the questioning kunochi. He sighs, turns around, and hands her the soap, “this _really_ is not the time,” he says, turning to leave thereafter.

Sakura is left alone in the room, perplexed by the remark, holding onto a green coloured package of soap.


	2. Chapter 2

As planned, the three of them congregate back at the town's main square at sunset. Sasuke and Sakura inform Lee that they've found Naruto; said shinobi cheers in joy upon hearing the news, “this is what I said! Naruto would be stationed here, not abandoning his post – he is a good man!”

Sasuke rolls his eyes and Sakura decides to inform Lee of the circumstances in which Naruto had been found.

Though her vague terminology does more to confuse Lee, than enlighten, so it is at this point Sasuke steps in to explain the situation once more - but in a more graphic manner. Sakura hides her smirk, as well as hide the fact from both men before her that Naruto's lover had been henged to look like her.

“Perhaps, Naruto had been off-duty. Perhaps this is a genuine love interest for Naruto,” Lee scrambles to find a logical explanation.

But he looks in the wrong direction, “there is nothing wrong with what Naruto was doing”.

“Of course not!”

“But it is highly likely that he was avoiding his duties”.

“Pure speculation,” Lee shoots back.

Sasuke shrugs, “believe what you want, then”.

Sakura breaks the conversation at this point to state that they need to notify Kiba, and bring him here to set up a new base, “there is no longer any need to be in the temple if Naruto is in this village”.

“Agreed,” says Sasuke, “but I don't think we all need to go back to get him”.

“I will stay back,” Lee offers, “I will look over Naruto”.

Sakura nods, then turns to Sasuke, “alright, lets head off then”.

.

.

The first ten minutes of their journey back to the temple are shared in silence. Sasuke walks to her gait, and looks ahead.

Sakura shoves her hands into her jacket pocket; she feels something inside, then pulls out the bar of soap Sasuke had given her earlier. Sasuke picks up the action in his peripheral, but says nothing.

She smiles softly, “I feel like you're intending to send me a message here”. She stares at the soap.

Sasuke remains fixated on the road ahead.

Sakura continues on, “are you telling me I need a wash?”

A sigh slips from his lips – finally, she elicits _something_ from him. “No,” he says, “it was – a present”.

“Why?”

“To thank you for mine”.

A brief lull ensues.

She hums, “you're making it hard to figure you out”.

Sasuke frowns, but says nothing.

Sakura adds, “I bet you don't treat Lee or Kiba this way”.

He picks up on the reference she makes, and understand the direction this will go, “I know. I don't”

“And yet–”

“I know,” Sasuke interjects, his annoyance with himself seeping in, “its hypocritical”.

“That wasn't the word I was going to use,” she smiles.

“I'm,” Sasuke pauses, “I don't know what we are”.

“Yes you do,” Sakura remarks, stepping over a large tree root as she walks, “you made it perfectly clear to Kiba”.

“You cannot use that, Sakura. I wouldn't need to speak truthfully to an outsider about a matter only effecting you and I”.

“Is that so,” she remarks, sincerity devoid of her tone.

He picks up on this, “Sakura...”

“Maybe I should make it clear then,” Sakura murmurs, a small crease forming between her brows, “we're...friends, if you let us be. But at best, we're ex-team mates”.

“You know that's not true,” Sasuke replies.

Sakura puts the soap back in her jacket pocket, “maybe it is, maybe it isn't,” she purses her lips, “like you said, Sasuke-kun, now is not the time to think about something like this”.

.

.

Following the directions Sakura had provided before her departure, Lee enters the bathhouse, climbs to the second floor, and finds Naruto nude beneath the sheets of the bed he occupies with an unknown lady.

Lee sighs, and shakes his head – he'd overhead at times Naruto's sorrows sung out whilst out at night with Kiba and Shikamaru; before his '_eternal_' slumber. His woes had stemmed from the lack of reciprocation from a certain kunochi, but the evidence of the act before him suggests that perhaps what Naruto had once decried as his biggest regret was in fact nothing more than a simple crush.

Which clears up the matter much easier, in hindsight.

“Okay,” Lee groans, scratching the back of his head, “how are we going to wake you up”.

.

.

Sasuke chooses to look outback for Kiba when the pair arrive back at the shrine. Sakura chooses to look inside and finds Kiba asleep atop a pile of rags in the main shrine room; she smirks as he lets out a loud snore. Approaching the unsuspecting shinobi, Sakura crouches down, and gives Kiba a slight poke upon his cheek.

Kiba stirs, but remains asleep.

The kunochi sighs, and pokes him once more whilst calling out his name.

Kiba groans, and his eyes flicker open. A lopsided grin plasters upon his face as he mumbles out, “mmh, babe, why are you still clothed?”

Sakura narrows her gaze, and pinches his nose – this is what is needed for Kiba to fully wake from his dream-like state. What comes out as an angered retort initially peters out when realising who it is that wakes him “oh uh...hey Sakura”.

She smiles wryly, “we've found Naruto,” she states.

Kiba sits up, and blinks, “...really?”

“Yea, really,” she smiles, “we're gonna take all our stuff, and set up camp there”.

“Is he...” the shinobi hesitates, “is he awake?”

Her smile wanes fractionally, “no”.

Kiba lets out a soft sigh, “well...dammit. It was the most likely outcome but still...”

“We hoped it wouldn't be”.

“Yea,” he mumbles, “damn bastard. If I could somehow manage to dodge the effect of this curse thing, you'd think that idiot, with the power of god literally on his side would be able to. _Geeze_”.

“Kiba,” Sakura rolls her eyes.

He stands up, prompting Sakura to follow suit. “What? Sasuke managed to avoid it – same boat, aren't they?”

“We don't even know how this all actually works”.

“Sure we do,” Kiba snorts, “its obvious that its the strong that survive. You and Lee are the only jonin from our ranks, and clearly the strongest – and Sasuke speaks for himself”.

Sakura holds down a giggle, “and so, you assume that–”

“Yea, this must mean that I'm stronger than Naruto”.

“Of course”.

“What? I don't see him arguing this”.

Sakura smirks, and grabs Kiba's wrist, “lets just go”.

But Kiba stays put, “bet I have a chance now, huh?”

“...excuse me?”

“With you, I mean”.

She lets go of his wrist, “oh boy, this will be good–”

“You're attracted to strong men”.

She scoffs, “_really_, is that what you think?”

Obviously the brevity of the flirtation is clear to both Sakura and Kiba; for he waggles his eyebrows, and pulls the cheesiest grin, and knows that his teasing truly has no backing as his defence to her question falls flat when replying, “sure, its true. Think about all the guys you've liked...Sasuke, and...other strong dudes”.

Sakura folds her arms over her chest, “that was bad”.

“Whatever,” Kiba shrugs, “...oh, speak of the devil”. He nods, with a grin, towards the door of the room they stand in.

Unimpressed with their presence, Sasuke stands beneath the door frame, and sighs with exasperation, “stop goofing off. We need to get back to the city”.

Sakura purses her lips, but says nothing in defence.

The same cannot be said for Kiba, “alright, bastard...”

.

.

“So, this is him,” the old woman barks, uninhibited with her volume; for the man before her sleeps with no chance to stir. (although, instinctively, Lee still responds that she needs to keep her voice down).

“So,” the woman continues, “this is the man who is a descendent of old blood”.

“I...believe so,” Lee replies, hesitantly glancing over to Naruto's sleeping form.

The woman smirks, “I don't suppose the woman beside him is the other descendant”.

“No,” Lee shakes his head, “I already told you, he...the other...um, descendant is awake”.

“Where is he?”

“He will be back soon,” replies Lee, “but before then, I was hoping you'd be able to assist in finding a way to wake up–”

“It can't be done boy, you know that”.

“I...” Lee's shoulders sink, “no, no, there has to be a way”.

“There isn't”.

“But, if there isn't. Then all our efforts were for nothing”.

“Yes”.

“No!” Lee stamps his foot, “there must be a way”.

.

.

During their journey back to the village, Kiba attempts to instigate a total of three arguments with Sasuke. All of which fizzle to nothing as Sasuke chooses responses of a non-verbal kind.

His ability to ignore impresses even Sakura, to an extend. “Kiba,” she begins, upon the shinobi's failed attempt to begin a row with the Uchiha, regarding his choosing of hairstyle when younger, “do you want to hear about the city we're heading to?”

“Uh...not really”.

Sakura refrains from rolling her eyes, and turns to the road ahead. The lump in her throat has grown in size. Once simply a bother, now bothers her. Guilt – and worry.

All they've done, all the plans they've created hinge on an old text she'd read, once before the – _event_. Her knowledge of medical ninjustu, and the ninja arts backing up what she theorises. However, day zero has approached far quicker than she'd thought it would.

They had found Naruto, and he was asleep.

_So now what?_

“When everyone wakes up,” Kiba begins, grinning from ear to ear, “they're gonna wanna know what happened. Man, we're gonna be in such high demand – I could probably use this to my advantage”.

Sakura frowns at the though. That lump in her throat persists. ' _If_ they wake up', she corrects.

They hadn't been able to stir anyone from the curse during their travels here, why would Naruto be any different?

.

.

“If you had someone descendent from Uchiha blood, then perhaps you'd have a chance” the old woman concludes, huffing then taking a seat beside the bed Naruto and his lover lie asleep in.

Lee frowns, “An...Uchiha?”

“Yes, you must have heard of this clan,” the woman chastises, “its quite a noble one from back in the day. Unfortunately, they've died out – a massacre. Oh, you _must _have heard of them”.

“I have,” Lee replies, hesitantly, “but, please, continue. Why would having an Uchiha on our side benefit us?”

“Why would you be interested?” the woman croaks.

Lee pauses, then replies, “perhaps knowing of the Uchiha's strength may help our position...”

It is a weak argument, but it suffices. “Alright,” says the old woman, “well, you must have picked up that those under a curse like this resemble those under genjutsu, the ninja arts”. Lee knows, a signal to the old woman. She adjusts in her seat, and continues, “well, as you may or may not know, the Uchiha were a clan that possessed an ocular dojutsu in their blood. One very much tied to the ninja art of genjutsu...”

.

.

Kiba's eyes light up when coming across the city, “damn, this is better than Konoha,” he whistles.

Sasuke shrugs, “probably is...”

“Okay,” Sakura steps before the two men, “we need to get to Naruto–”

“And then what?” Kiba interjects.

Sakura pauses, frowning slightly, “huh?”

“And...then what?” Kiba repeats, “I assume you have a plan to wake him up”.

“That the whole point of what we're doing,” Sasuke snaps back.

Sakura smiles weakly, “just...lets go”.

Without further question, both men follow her from behind. Each step made with purpose, and intention not to falter. The expression upon the kunochi's face is masked from view of her company. Sakura bites her lip when the bathhouse comes back into view.

It is officially day zero now – and she is without a plan.

Her footsteps up to the second floor feel heavy. Heading to Naruto's room fills her with dread.

“Oh, hey you guys,” Lee splutters the moment Sakura opens the door, followed in by Kiba and Sasuke.

Much to the surprise of the group, Lee has company. An old woman, sitting in the only chair in the room; a grumpy demeanour on display for a welcome.

Sakura looks between the startled Lee, and the unaffected old woman. She begins with a, “oh, hello there–”

“Is this the girl?” the old woman interjects, snapping at Lee.

Lee blinks, “well, yes...um”.

With speed unexpected for someone the age that the old woman is, she stands from her chair and makes a gesture towards Sakura, “follow me, girlie”.

.

.

She had looked towards Sasuke, who'd offered little to the unexpected command of the elderly woman. Therefore, with a stifled huff, Sakura had followed willingly.

With a wobbled trot, Sakura had kept pace silently until the woman had stopped abruptly in front of the main fountain in the city's central district. At this point, the elderly woman had shuffled to face Sakura, and remarked, “how strange, you're not even questioning where I'm leading you”.

“Should I?” asks Sakura.

“Well,” the woman pauses, “do you trust me?”

“No”.

“And yet you don't question me”.

“Well...I don't see a threat”.

“Ah,” croaks the old woman, “well then, perhaps you're underestimating me”.

.

.

“Alright Lee,” Kiba remarks, flopping down on the chair the elderly woman had been sitting on, “who is she?”

“A resident who, like us, was not effected by the...plague”.

“Hmm, she doesn't seem that strong,” Kiba mumbles.

Sasuke eyes the shinobi questioningly. Kiba shrugs and turns to glance upon the unconscious company of one Uzamaki Naruto, “huh, didn't think Naruto was the kind to hire escorts”.

Sasuke frowns, “how do you know she is an escort?”

Beside him, Lee appears positively appalled whilst Kiba pauses, thinking carefully of his answer, “look I...I just know, alright. I'm not the one on trail here!”

“No one is on trail,” Sasuke remarks flatly.

“Well good,” says Kiba, “I'm just saying, I know she's an escort”.

.

.

In the basement of a weapon's shop that the woman claims to own is the most unexpected sight. Volumes of texts and scrolls belonging to the Uchiha clan scatter the floor; surrounded by walls nearly entirely reclaimed by nature. “Once upon a time,” the old woman remarks tiredly, waving a hand at the ruined library, “I doubt the late clan are even aware that this exists”.

Vines as thick as tree trunks line the walls. The floor beneath is cracked with shrubs pushing. Moss lines nearly all of the still intact ceiling.

“I don't...understand,” Sakura mumbles.

The woman scoffs, “and here the green one vouched for your intelligence”.

“I...what?”

“This phenomena we see around us, it is evident to you that it is the ninja arts gone wrong, right?”

“I – yes,” Sakura replies, glancing at the texts by her feet. The covers are scribed with a language she isn't familiar with.

“The Uchiha clan,” the woman remarks, “too smart for their own good”.

Sakura looks up, “The...Uchiha clan”.

“Yes,” replies the old woman, “extinct now, I know, but that doesn't mean that their traps don't remain lying around the world, waiting for a trigger. My theory is this,” the old woman finds a tree root that has broken through the ground, and uses it as a seat, “the Uchiha clan, years and years ago, set a trap for a war that did not come to be waged. Or maybe it did,” she smiles a toothy grin, “regardless, whatever the scenario, the trap never came to be used, but now it has accidentally been triggered–”

“By whom?” Sakura interjects.

The old woman sighs, “I don't have all the answers”.

“And how did you get the answers you have now?”

Not expecting that question, the old woman blinks. Then nods and reaches for a book placed atop one of the few standing shelves. “Within here,” the woman begins, “is the lore of the clan. Some of it. It describes a curse that mirrors what we see before us, it explains how to activate it, how to use it, and how to disable it”.

“Let me guess,” says Sakura, “we need an Uchiha to disable it”.

The woman grins, and nods, “its all controlled by the dojutsu within their eyes”.

“The Sharingan”.

“No,” the woman remarks, “a different one”.

.

.

The woman doesn't follow Sakura back to the bathhouse, she remarks with conviction, “I have no desire to get wrapped up in some teenager's rescue fantasy story”. Then, unnecessarily, she adds, “if you want to get the attention of at least one of those idiots, try and show more skin”.

Sakura ignores the advice and heads back to the bathhouse. The tattered, and barely held together book from the old woman's basemen held within her grasp. When entering back into the room Naruto resides in, Kiba greets her with the random remark of, “hey Sakura, did you know Naruto's girl is a hooker?”. Lee asks her where the elderly woman has gone to and Sasuke steps forward, blocks her from the rest of the room, and asks in a voice so that only she hears, “what did you get?”

Sakura pauses briefly, then asks for Sasuke to follow her to the corridor for a private discussion. Sasuke nods, whilst Kiba in the background remarks obnoxiously, “oi! Where are you going!”

Sasuke closes the door behind him. Sakura shows him the book the old woman had given her and allows him to briefly skim its contents. “She theories that this is an ancient genjutsu, set up by someone from the Uchiha clan and–”

“I'd be the one to dispel it”.

“Well...kind of,” Sakura states, fiddling with the book in her hands, “I've read the passage that refers most closely to...this, and – you need more than one, person, to summon the genjutsu. Simply because of the chakra required”.

“So I wouldn't have enough”.

“No, you wouldn't – but Naruto would”.

.

.

Kiba watches from his seat, pouting as Sasuke and Sakura before him begin making preparations for – _something_. And whispering to each other about – _something_. “What are you two doing?” he asks, frustrated after the briefest moment of inattention. Lee briefly scolds him, remarking – _unnecessarily_; “they've just returned. Please Kiba – you must–”

“You guys have a plan, right?” Kiba interjects, standing up.

“Yes,” says Sakura, “we're going to wake Naruto”.

“Yea, duh,” Kiba snorts, “that was always the plan”.

“But we actually know how to do it now”.

“Did you...not before?”

The question falls on deaf ears as Sakura continues to scan the passage they'll need to refer whilst Sasuke rolls his eyes, and turns away from the questioning shinobi. Lee steps forward, and asks Sasuke, “how do you plan to wake Naruto up?”

Sasuke nods towards Sakura, then replies, “by making him realise that he's in, what is essentially a dream”.

“How will you do that? He is asleep”.

“I'm going to talk to him”.

“...how–”

“By stepping into his dream,” Sakura cuts in, overhearing the conversation, “um...more or less”.

“So...” Lee turns back to Sasuke, eyes wide, “you will be–”

“Both Sakura and I,” Sasuke corrects.

“What,” Sakura exclaims, “we didn't agree on that”.

“I think it would be better if you were with me. Despite my heritage, I can't say I know much about what I'm about to step into”.

“Neither do I”.

“That doesn't matter”.

“I think it does. Should something go wrong–”

“You wouldn't know unless you were with me. It'd be better if you act as my safety”.

“Sasuke-kun, this isn't a good idea”.

“Don't overthink this Sakura, I can pull both of us out should there be an issue but if I need your chakra, there isn't a way you'd know unless you were with me. From your point of view, I'd be peacefully sleeping like the idiot over here,” he nods to Naruto's form.

Sakura mulls over his claim, “that's quite a weak reasoning”.

“Maybe so, but it wouldn't hurt for you to come along”.

Sakura looks towards both Lee and Kiba. Their expressions indicate that they will side with Sasuke on this, should she decide to challenge. “Will you even be able to get me into Naruto's...um...”

“I will,” Sasuke replies confidently.

.

.

Before Sasuke enables a technique of the Uchiha clan's, not attempted for several decades, Kiba whines that he isn't sure how he'd be able to get dinner if both Sakura and Sasuke are unconscious.

“Just steal something from one of the shops around here,” Sasuke remarks, casually – but still somewhat agitated that such a qualm had even been brought up.

Lee calms Kiba, whispering something that isn't caught by the other two. Sasuke nods for Sakura to close her eyes, “I'll begin now,” he says. She follows his instructions without hesitation.

.

.

There is a slight feeling of nausea s in the pit of her stomach when her eyes open once more. She feels detached from her body; and something is amiss with her sense of perception. “I may have performed the dojutsu incorrectly,” Sasuke admits beside her, turning with a shrug, “are you okay?”

“I'm fine,” says Sakura, “this all isn't real, right?”

“Right,” replies Sasuke, “we'll be safe _here,_ as long as we remember that”.

Looking around to take in the – _here_, Sakura finds that they'd both materialised before the doors of the Hokage tower in Konoha. The village looks not as they remember leaving it a few weeks ago; a wave of nostalgia trickles through her bones as on a hunch, Sakura looks up toward the Hokage mountain.

“There are only four heads,” she states, blankly.

Sasuke follows her line of sight, nodding at the observation then replying with a, “so Naruto's fantasy is to live in the past”.

Sakura snickers beside him, “Sasuke-kun...”

“I'd think his face would be up there,” says Sasuke, “its odd that it isn't”.

“Well,” says Sakura, “lets just find him and convince him that this is a dream...or whatever it is”.

.

.

It takes them less than fifteen minutes to come to the conclusion that their original deduction had been incorrect. They were not in the past. Instead, they walked the fantasy of a future where certain key events could have triggered the alternate reality they see before them. “That's Naruto's parents,” Sakura whispers to Sasuke as his expression shows confusion regarding the two people beside the man they seek.

“I...right,” says Sasuke, turning away from the scene to look at Sakura, “this is Naruto's fantasy”.

“Right, it makes sense,” she smiles.

The pair stand under an umbrella Sasuke had _“found”_ at a local newsagency. Though Sakura had reprimanded him initially regarding the _“find”_, Sasuke had been quick to point out that “Sakura, none of this is real”. Her argument had simply relied on the notion, “but its the principle of it” – though she'd relented all the same.

Before them, Naruto shops for groceries with his parents. The three of them stand under the awning of a local grocers, picking out a selection of oranges. The neon and lights of the shop signs along the market street blur through the curtain of rainfall separating the happy family, and the ambivalent couple. “Should we approach him now?” Sakura mumbles.

Sasuke opens his mouth to answer, but is cut off with an ecstatic call from someone else, “Sakura-chan!”.

Naruto; spotting the pair across the street, run from his parent's side to greet the two. “Hey babe,” he begins, turning his back on Sasuke and devoting all attention to the kunochi before him, “what's up,” Naruto leans in, and kisses Sakura sloppily upon her cheek.

Sakura's eyes widen, whilst Sasuke frowns at the interaction. Then, Naruto turns to Sasuke, after throwing his arm around Sakura's shoulder's, “hey man, did your shift finish early today?”

Sasuke, unsure of how to answer, turns to Sakura with a raised brow. The kunochi bites her lip, then replies on Sasuke's behalf, “that's right, it did,” she smiles, “and...now we're just going to grab dinner”.

“What, no,” Naruto replies, laughing at what is apparently the absurdity of the suggestion, “babe, we've got plans. Remember?”

Obviously, Sakura does not.

Sasuke lets out a quiet breath of frustration, looking between the two, “Naruto,” he begins, “none of this is real. You're trapped in the warped version of a genjutsu most likely implemented by a member of the Uchiha clan. Your parents are dead, Sakura is not your girlfriend, and popped collars are not a fashion trend looked on in a positive light,” he nods at the state of Naruto's shirt.

Sakura freezes in her spot; blindsided somewhat by Sasuke immediate action of their plan.

Naruto on the other hand, stands before Sasuke with nothing but suspicion riddling his expression. “Hey,” he begins, drawing out every syllable, “you said you stopped smoking that shit a month ago”.

.

.

“Alright,” Sasuke grumbles, taking a seat upon his sofa, “so I'm Naruto's idiot stoner friend, who jumps continuously from minimum wage job to minimum wage job, and also I apparently worship the ground that dumbass walks upon”.

“And...,” Sakura sighs, choosing to remain standing, “I'm his girlfriend”.

Sasuke pauses, “yea you've got it worse”.

On a hunch, they'd suspected that the apartment Sasuke had owned as a child be still the same apartment Naruto would fantasise twenty-something-year-old Sasuke having for the illusion. They'd been right. The strangely sterile, and untouched apartment opened to the key Sasuke had found in his pocket after their conversation with Naruto.

“Well, at least we know the method of brutal honesty doesn't work,” Sakura states, folding her arms over her chest.

“I didn't expect his head to be lodged this far up his ass”.

“Lovely metaphor”.

“Yea,” replies Sasuke, “so, whats our plan?”

“I don't know,” Sakura replies, “we...have to prove to him, somehow, that all of this isn't real”.

“He's pretty set on his ways to believe it though,” Sasuke continues, “all his fantasies have come true, why would he want that to go away”.

“I guess,” says Sakura, “but...we still have to _find_ a way”.

Sasuke nods, but doesn't reply to the sentiment. Instead, his mind wanders elsewhere, he looks back up to Sakura, and asks her, “did you know?”

She blinks, “know what?”

“That Naruto apparently still harbours feelings for you”.

“Oh,” she replies; her mind flashes to the escort she'd found lying beside Naruto – her hair henged to the same shade as hers, “I didn't...I mean. Recently, I had suspicions but nothing, concrete”.

“Okay,” Sasuke nods, standing up, “you should leave now”.

Her eyes widen, “what, why?”

He smirks, “you and Naruto live together, remember, and its getting late,” Sasuke nods at the wall-clock behind her, “you should get going”.

Now, it is Sakura's turn to smirk, “hell no. You know what couples do at night, when they live together, alone – nu uh, not going over there”.

“Sakura...” he begins, trying to bite down a chuckle.

But the kunochi before him is adamant, “no way, I don't care if this is all fake, I'm not doing _that. _I'm crashing here”. Then, Sakura heads off down the corridor, calling out to him, “where do you keep your spare blankets?”

Sasuke smiles. Relief rushes through him.

.

.

Lee fluffs both Sasuke and Sakura's pillows; the pair lie unconscious next to each other, nothing indicates that they will remember this gesture. Lee then makes a whining Kiba his dinner, and afterwards finds his way around the bathhouse to locate something that may pass the time.

Eventually, he returns to the room they'd found Naruto in. His search turning up nothing of great interest.

The book Sakura had returned with after her brief trip away with the elderly woman lies beside the kunochi. Her hand partially atop the cover. Lee bends down, and slowly removes the book from Sakura's non-existent grasp.

He flips the text open to the page marked by the kunochi.

“An illusion for death,” Lee begins, quietly reading the title to himself. His eyes scan the page, then quicker still as the severity of the dojustsu's power become apparent upon the inevitability of what will befall the victim, should they not wake before that.

They'd survived whilst all around had suffered – two weeks now they've lived beside the world that has fallen into a slumber. “Two weeks left,” Lee mumbles once more, as his eyes reading the final lines of the last paragraph over three times – _an expiry of the host within a month_.

“Oi Lee!”. Said shinobi jumps upon the call, turning to find Kiba standing beneath the doorframe, “did you remember to steal some ketchup? I'm not eating that damn rice without it”.


	3. Chapter 3

There is quite an art to making a genjutsu so real; that grogginess of waking up, the grumble of his stomach. His mouth tastes bitter. The illusion may have deceived him well enough this morning had it not been for the slight feeling of distortion as he'd swung his legs over the side of his bed

In that second, he didn't feel right. A twist in his axis of reality is not normal, for him.

But this was the fragment of an old genjutsu, playing out the true desires of one Uzumaki Naruto.

There were bound to be bugs.

“Good morning,” yawns Sakura, as Sasuke shuffles to the living room to find the kunochi waking from her slumber. His guest bed sheets lie strewn across the floor, and half still on the couch. Sasuke eyes her with a brow raised. Sakura shrugs, stands up, and remarks that she'll put on a pot of coffee for the two of them.

“Tomorrow, you get my bed,” he says.

Sakura shakes her head, grinning, “nu uh, I'm a guest”.

“Who cares”.

Sakura takes out two mugs, and replies to him, “you know, I was thinking...” Sasuke walks towards her, nodding for her to continue. “I was thinking,” says Sakura, “what if_ I _commit treason this time”.

“His mind would find a way to blame me”.

“Or...I could just, spray paint the Hokage mountain”.

“I'd still probably wind up in jail in your place”.

Sakura giggles, and Sasuke shoves his hand in his pocket. They've wasted three days – _maybe_.

Sakura finishes brewing their coffee and pours them both their drinks. She adds three spoons of sugar to hers, and one to his.

“You know, its weird to say because we're in an illusion, but I think we need to do some grocery shopping. You're running low on _rice_...somehow”.

Sasuke smirks, and takes a sip of his coffee.

Funnily enough, whilst Naruto's illusion does well to incorporate their unexpected behaviour into its simulation, there is one aspect of the illusion they stand in that does not correct itself, or attempt to explain it away. “You know, you've slept over at my apartment for three nights now”.

“So?” asks Sakura; the implication being that; _would he rather she sleep at Naruto's_.

Sasuke reiterates, “I'm not saying you have to go”.

“Okay”.

“But I suspect Naruto would become...suspicious”.

“Um, good?”

“Maybe”.

“Maybe?”

Sasuke lowers his mug; his line of sight catches hers, “you don't think its odd?”

“Why would I?”

“Because, this illusion makes excuses for everything else we do that doesn't align with Naruto's desired behaviour of us – except this”.

Sakura pauses, mulling it over, “huh”.

.

.

Sakura receives a call after breakfast. '_Its Naruto_,' she silently mouths to him. Sasuke shrugs, and Sakura returns her attention to the phone call. “Okay, yep. Sure, I'll meet you there”. She hangs up, and turns to him.

Sasuke answers on her behalf, “you're going to meet him?”

“Mmm, how did you guess”.

Sasuke walks past her form, “try and intentionally be rude to him”.

“Alright, fine”.

“I'm going to look around the village today”.

Sakura raises a brow, “do you think it'll help?”

Sasuke replies, “...maybe”.

.

.

Three minutes after Sakura had left, Sasuke receives another phone call. This time, for him. He answers blandly, though the same cannot be said for the caller.

The blaring voice of a man he has never spoken to crackles through the receiver, “Uchiha, where the hell are you!”

Sasuke pauses, “...sorry?”

“You're late for your shift”.

Sasuke pauses, “I'm...not coming in today”.

“The hell you aren't,” the voice barks, forcing the crackle from the receiver to worsen, “the damn Hokage's banquet is one day away and you decided to inject your system with the stupidest shit this town has to offer. No, no – I don't care how _blazed_ you are kid. Get your ass down here or I'll personally come to your shitty little apartment and drag you down here myself!” – the call ends here. Sasuke places down the receiver

His mind plays over the one piece of information he finds of interest – _Hokage's banquet._

_._

_._

“Alright, you'll start here,” booms his team leader; the same man who yelled at him on the phone nearly fifteen minutes ago. His stature suits what little Sasuke knows of him beyond the fact that anger appears to be this man's natural state. Large, tall, and with a mighty impressive beard; the man points at a crate of fish, and grins, “you were last, so you get the old tuna”.

“Is our goal to poison the guests?” Sasuke asks, eyeing the nearly rotting fish overstuffed in an ice crate.

“These are our orders,” his team leader bangs on, “what, you care?”

Sasuke pauses, “not really...”

“Good, get to work”.

Sasuke approaches the crate whilst his team leader walks off to yell at another worker.

He stares down at the rotting '_will-be-food_'. Then, his attention is snapped away as a call of ,”Hey, Sasuke!” is heard from behind him.

.

.

She ignores him, puts down his suggestions, and yet, _still,_ Naruto continues to tout her around town. Overly ecstatic remarks of, “Hey babe,” and “Darling,” are overheard by passerby-ers. Intentionally, of course.

Sakura wonders if storming off would at least get it through Naruto's mind.

Their world around them may be an illusion, but Naruto isn't. And whilst she considers him a friend, this true affection that she knew nothing off whilst back in the true land of the living begins to bother her. The constant need to brush away his attempts to hold her hand, or the need to shrug off his arm around her shoulders, or his hand upon her lower back begins to tire her.

Sasuke's brutally honest explanation their first night had done nothing to penetrate Naruto's view of the world he stands in – perhaps there isn't a way to get to him here. He is happy, why would he want to believe this world isn't true.

“Hey, Sasuke!”

Naruto spots a disgruntled man, holding what looks to be a box of expired seafood. Holding Sakura by the wrist, Naruto bounds towards said disgruntled man. Sasuke turns to regard the presence of the pair with nothing more than a complete lack of an expression change; though his eyes flicker briefly towards the kunochi, who at that moment, decides to swagger up to him, place her hand gently upon his chest, and remark loudly, “wow, Sasuke-kun, you sure are looking sexy today”.

Less than a beat passes before Naruto bursts out laughing.

Sasuke in this instance cannot blame him. He understands what Sakura is trying to do but really, her execution truly left all wanting.

Sakura's hand, still gingerly on Sasuke's chest, scrunches the material of his shirt ever so slightly under her fingertips as Naruto exclaims, “Sweetheart! You're meant to be telling **me** that”.

Sasuke expects that most of the morning has gone in such a fashion. Sakura behaves in an outrageous manner for a girlfriend, Naruto's irrational mind explains it away.

Naruto throws his arm around Sakura's shoulders; dragging her back to his presence.

Sasuke silently watches the awkward exchange, all whilst still holding his rotten tuna.

“You've been acting a bit weird this morning,” the blond softly murmers to Sakura. The slightest hint of worry lacing Naruto's voice.

Of course Naruto's murmer is not all that quiet – so an idea comes to Sasuke.

Naruto turns back to Sasuke, “Hey, mate....what are you holding?”

Sasuke replies, “your soon to be dinner, probably”.

“What?”

Sasuke quickly sends Sakura a look. She slightly raises an eyebrow, but remarks nonetheless, “I, need to quickly use the restroom...excuse me?”

She leaves. Sasuke makes a mental note to help Sakura work on her acting chops. He also turns to Naruto and remarks without a hint of guilt, “I'm sleeping with your girlfriend”.

Naruto's smile doesn't even waver.

“Naruto,” Sasuke continues, slowly, “Sakura and I are sleeping together”.

This time, Naruto response.

At first, with a laugh. Then by remarking, “like a sleepover?”

“No”.

“I'm sure that's what you meant”.

“Its not”.

“I'm sure it is though”.

“Naruto,” Sasuke continues, irritation beginning to seep into his tone, “Sakura and I – are...” he pauses, “fucking”.

If the first manner in which this lie was presented would have gotten Sakura to slap him, now stating that he and Sakura were '_fucking_' would result in at least a few broken bones.

_At least_.

“You have a weird way of stating that you and Sakura like hanging out”.

Perhaps he should just dump the crate of tuna on Naruto's head, ponders Sasuke.

.

.

“Yea I already tried that,” says Sakura.

Sasuke deadpans a look, “...and?”

“He said that I have a weird way of stating that I like hanging out with you”.

Swap broken bones for a shared experience, “I think we're fighting a loosing cause,” says Sasuke.

Sakura scrunches her nose; somewhat in response to his defeatist attitude, but more to the fact that the boxes of rotting seafood around Sasuke continue to increase in numbers as another one of Sasuke co-workers enters the back storeroom the pair occupy to drop a crate of expired salmon.

Said co-worker notes Sakura's presence by shooting a grin which speaks of a message, somewhat along the lines of _'nice pull, mate'_.

It is likely Sakura's expression also stems from this exchange.

“Up to four crates now,” Sakura remarks.

In a store room with only one ventilation port and a constant stream of steam from the faulty pipe above seems as good place as any to store four crates of rotting seafood. Sasuke shrugs, remarking that Sakura will most likely have to come to terms with this food tomorrow night when Naruto undoubtedly drags her to the Hokage's Banquet in which said seafood will be served as a main dish.

Sakura wonders how food poisoning will work in an illusion.

Sasuke wonders what exactly his original orders for these crates were. He wasn't exactly listening to his manager when explaining what to do. Not that he cared, really.

“What did you say to Naruto to get away from him?” asks Sasuke.

“Nothing,” Sakura replies, “I ran, he'll find me eventually”.

Sasuke shrugs, and lightly kicks one of the crates.

“Anyway,” continues Sakura, “what's our next plan?”

“Plan?”

“I...why we're here,” Sakura rolls her eyes, “nothing is getting through to Naruto”.

“And I doubt anything will”.

“Love the attitude”.

“I'm serious, Sakura”.

“Sasuke–”

“Nothing is going to get through to him”.

“Wha – and where exactly does that leave us?”

“I don't know”.

“What's gotten into you”.

“Sakura, I'm being realistic here”.

“Sasuke-kun, are you seriously forgetting why we're here”.

“No,” says Sasuke, “if anything, that's exactly why I'm thinking this. We're on a time limit here”.

Sakura opens her mouth to speak, but stops, and nods instead.

Sasuke exhales, “I don't claim to know the depth of this trap but, I imagine this is, a weapon”.

“We've already established that”.

“Right,” says Sasuke, “meaning that this will be permanent, eventually”.

Sakura frowns, “we....have some time”.

“Do we?”

“I...”

“We don't exactly know how much time has past in the...real world”.

“Right, we don't, but–”

“and we don't know that Naruto is the key to breaking this trap”.

“Its the best shot we've got”.

“This is an assumption”.

“We don't have another plan, Sasuke-kun”.

“We're not exactly dedicating our time to thinking of one one, are we?”

“I...” she pauses, “what would you have us do, then?”

“I don't know”.

“Then why are you bringing this us?”

“Because we're wasting time doing this”.

She narrows her gaze, “not above assuming yourself”.

“I never said I was”.

Ready to retort, Sakura inhibits from doing so upon Sasuke's genuine barely-there expression of exhaustion. “Okay,” she says instead, “okay, I understand. This is frustrating”.

He nods.

“But,” she continues, “we need Naruto's chakra, you know we do”.

“We don't need Naruto's chakra,” replies Sasuke, “we just need a lot of chakra”.

“No...I, think...”

“You're interpreting the text to mean Naruto and I. Because everything of this grandeur always ends up being Naruto and I. But again, you're just assuming,” he looks towards her, “Sakura, is it chakra, or Naruto's chakra?”

“Its...a lot of chakra”.

“Not Naruto's”.

“But Naruto is the only one who has enough”.

“No, he might not be”.

.

.

“Lee, look,” Kiba whispers, motioning aggressively for Lee to duck down, and approach the window that Kiba currently peers out of.

Lee approaches and peers out, noting immediately what Kiba refers to.

A group of people, walking together through the city, heading towards the gate of the city in which they'd initially entered through a few hours prior.

“More unaffected,” whispers Lee.

Kiba nods, “its a lot of them, too”.

True enough, whist the bulk of the travelling group appears to be civilian women and young children, bringing up the rear and leading the front are clearly those that wear the badge of a shinobi, or mercenary at least.

“Do you recognise that uniform?”

“No, I do not,” says Lee.

“I don't think they're from this country”.

“We must go meet them,” Lee insists.

Kiba disagrees, “uh...no”.

“Kiba-san, we must–”

“This isn't like that old lady, a lot of those guys look like they could take us”.

“Why would they?”

“I don't know, they might see us as a threat”.

“Then we'll avoid being threatening”.

“That's not – that's not up to us. Look, I just don't want to get my ass kicked, alright!”

“You underestimate yourself”.

“We don't know how strong they are!”

“Exactly”.

“And Sakura and that bastard Sasuke are out cold. I mean if they were awake we could...but just in case”.

“So,” Lee pauses, “you rather they go on by, we do nothing”.

“Well,” Kiba continues, “what would be the point. How could they help us, how could we help them?”

“We will not know unless we ask”.

“Nah, no point – the way I see it, one – they're a travelling group from another country that has just stumbled upon here at a really bad time or two, they're probably confused and lost and trying to find a way to break this curse”.

“Like us!” booms Lee, “all the more reason to meet them”.

“No because unlike us, they don't have a plan. Look, Sasuke and Sakura will wake Naruto, those two idiots will break the curse and then who cares if we met them or not. Curse lifted, dilemma deleted, Kiba for the win!”.

Lee buries his face in his hands.

Kiba shakes his head, “trust me, we're not going to need them”.

.

.

“A group of people,” Sasuke continues, “combined together, could make up–”

“We'd need so many people Sasuke-kun. So many – people – all of which are probably affected by the curse,” retorts the kunochi as she treks her way towards the street, Sasuke close behind her.

“We don't need that many people”.

“Uh...yes we do”.

“Not with you. Your chakra reserve alone will be enough to cover the bulk of it”.

“Another assumption”.

“A good one”.

“Look,” says Sakura, “when I find the passage, I'll show you. It can only be Naruto”.

Swept up in knowing she can prove Sasuke wrong, Sakura suggests they take a trip to the library in the Uchiha district. Information regarding this curse, and who is needed to break it, must be stored in there.

Initially Sasuke had noted that it isn't likely that the illusion render the texts of the library, though Sakura had refute that claim simply stating, “your apartment, your workplace, and one of my most favourite bookshops were rendered in this illusion despite never listening or visiting such places when awake”.

Sasuke conceded on that. The illusion was more in control after all – not Naruto.

“What exactly was is that you read that makes you think it can only be Naruto?” Sasuke asks, jogging a bit to catch up to Sakura once realising said kunochi had increased her pace.

“I don't remember”.

“Ah”.

“But I remember that my deduction was that Naruto was the key?”

“You remember nothing”.

“I remember, that we need a lot of chakra”.

“Doesn't point to Naruto alone”.

“And that it must be an Uchiha to actually do the dispelling”.

“Doesn't point to Naruto, obviously”.

Sakura smirks, “smartass”.

He smirks back, “anything concrete?”

Sakura falls silent briefly, before replying, “kindred spirits between the Uchiha, and the vessel that provides the energy”.

“Doesn't point to Naruto”.

She scoffs, “excuse me?”

“Doesn't point to Naruto”.

“Oh wow,” Sakura rolls her eyes, “where to begin disagreeing with that”.

“Sakura–”

“Honestly, Sasuke-kun”.

“You sure it said kindred spirits?”

“Yes!...maybe”.

“Sakura, a lot of people could fit that definition”.

“...I don't think you know what _kindred spirits_ mean”.

“I think you're conflating the title to mean something that it isn't. Remember, the Uchiha clan defines the definition of this in this case; it might not mean what you think it means”.

“Really”.

“Best friends....could be considered kindred spirits?”

“And,” Sakura smiles, “doesn't that point to Naruto”.

“No,” says Sasuke, “and...also, for an Uchiha marriage ceremony, there is a line about kindred spirits that the priest talks about for the couple getting married”.

“Oh, perfect,” Sakura replies, “so lets just ask your non-existent wife to help”.

“It doesn't have to be my wife”.

Sakura frowns – she knows where this is going and despite the desire of her youth bubbling within the pit of her stomach, screaming at her, _'don't do anything or say anything to jeopardise this_', her mind instead follows a more pragmatic approach. Not that it needs to, for she stops walking, and turns to Sasuke.

She has never seen him so uncomfortable – or so unsure.

“Sakura,” he says, softly, “what I'm saying is–”

“We're here,” Sakura interjects, nodding to the building they stand beside.

Sasuke's expression morphs, he turns to regard where they are, “ah”.

“Come on,” says Sakura, “let me find the passage for you”.

.

.

“The first condition is that a person is a hard-worker. Or that, they're such hard-workers that they know that someone telling them they can have everything they want is just a silly impossible thing,” explains Lee.

Kiba nods, snorts, the nods towards the unconscious body of Naruto, “explains why he's under, eh”.

“Naruto-san is a hard worker, Kiba-san”.

“Is he though?”

“Yes!”

Kiba rolls his eyes, “whatever, what are the other conditions?”

“The second condition is if you already have everything you want–”

“There is nothing more to gain,” Kiba finishes lazily. He briefly glances over to Sakura and Sasuke's unconscious bodies before adding, “I bet I'm the hard-worker one”.

Lee frowns, “if that is what you believe, Kiba-san”.

“It is”.

“I don't doubt you're a hard-worker, just like Naruto-san”.

“Urgh, whatever,” replies Kiba, “whats the third?”

“The third option is for those that don't know what they want”.

“Really,” says Kiba, “those are the three options?”

“Yes, do you not believe me?”

“That's not what I mean,” says Kiba, “its just, I feel like more people should be awake, then”.

“Do you think so?”

“Yes well, in Konoha we only found each other and the two over there,” he nods at Sasuke and Sakura, “but like, wouldn't more people not know what they want? Wouldn't more people be smart enough to know you can't just get what you want?”

“Not necessarily. Perhaps we didn't, find everyone”.

“Yea but, do you think maybe there is another condition? Maybe that old lady didn't tell you everything”.

“I don't think she lied”.

“Not lied but like, maybe she doesn't _know-all_, I mean, she's just someone we met recently, we don't know how credible she is. Maybe she only knows so much. Not her fault, really”.

“I suppose that is plausible”.

“Like for example, and this is just a theory but you know how that lady said this is an ancient Uchiha curse thingy?”

“Yes, and because of that, we're lucky that Sasuke isn't affected”.

“Well, yea,” Kiba mumbles, “but also, maybe Sasuke wouldn't have been affected by this because it could never have happened to him. I mean, why would the Uchiha build a trap that would affect others with the same blood as them, that's just stupid”.

“I...perhaps,” Lee replies.

“Also,” continues Kiba, “maybe there are other circumstances around us not getting affected. Like I get the three of us could fit in the whole '_hard-worker'_ category but like, wouldn't Gai-sensei? Tsunade-sensei? What about Kakashi?”

“I guess I didn't consider that”.

“Right,” says Kiba, “I'm not saying that we're on the wrong path, but maybe we're just...lucky. Except Sasuke, you know”.

“Well, why were we spared?”

“Who knows, just guessing but like...it just seems all to convenient that so many were affected and we, including Sasuke, weren't”.

“Though if we we're truly lucky, Naruto-san would be awake,” Lee adds, glumly.

Kiba's eyes flicker towards Sakura, “I'm not so sure about that”.

.

.

“Empty,” Sakura mutters, “I guess I was being optimistic”.

Sasuke approaches her form. Sakura sighs and slots the tattered text back into its place along the bookshelf. The light pouring in from the high glass ceiling above brings a sad glow to the kunochi's expression. A library of gold trimmed books housing nothing but empty pages between the covers – she'd hoped too much from a dream crafted by Naruto.

“We can't expect this illusion to be perfect,” says Sasuke.

“I know,” says Sakura, “but without it, you're not going to believe me”.

“I believe you,” says Sasuke.

She turns to him with a raised eyebrow, “what part?”

“The part about kindred spirits. I believe I need a connection to the person that will help me dispel this curse, I just don't agree on your definition of _kindred spirits_”.

Her lip twitches into what could have been a smile, “okay, then I'll believe you”.

Sasuke waits for her to continue.

“As in,” Sakura begins, “I believe that maybe..._maybe_, your plan to use a group of people as opposed to just Naruto will work”.

“_Because _ you'll be my main support”.

“_Because _ I have the chakra reserver”.

Sasuke nods, there is not need to push the matter.

“Look, we should get out of here – the illusion I mean”.

Sakura nods, she couldn't argue against Sasuke's logic. Not anymore.

They only had so much time.

“Hey Sasuke. Hey Sakura-chan”.

The eyes of the pair widen as Naruto, very effectively, approaches them without any indication prior of his presence. Sasuke, somewhat impressed, though still noting that all of this _ is _ an illusion regards the blond, “Naruto, how long have you been here?”

“Just got here,” Naruto replies, his tone far more sombre than in previous exchanges.

“Are you, looking for me?” Sakura asks.

The blond nods, “but, I actually think I need to talk to Sasuke real quick, if ya don't mind”.

Sakura shoots Sasuke a look of, _ 'maybe just humour him, then we can leave without distraction _'. Sasuke shrugs and agrees, following Naruto as he walks down the aisle of books towards a darker area of the library.

When Naruto stops walking, Sasuke asks him, “what did you want to talk about?”

Naruto turns to Sasuke, and folds his arms over his chest, “please leave”.

Sasuke pauses, “what?”

'Leave, you and Sakura-chan. Please leave”.

“I...” Sasuke begins, “right”.

“I know you guys are real, and you being here means...means this isn't what I want so seriously dude, just leave, okay. I don't know why you two are here, I don't know for how long you've been here but seriously, _ seriously _, get out”.

Sasuke frowns; _ right – this is unexpected _.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments are really appreciated, they provide a great motivational boost :)


	4. Chapter 4

“I'll say this sincerely then, I did not give Naruto enough credit,” says Sakura.

“Neither did I,” replies Sasuke.

“I mean,” she pauses, “I...he figured out that we're real. Or rather, he knows this is an illusion”.

“But he prefers this”.

“I...yea”.

“I didn't realise Naruto was in such a state, mentally speaking, where he would prefer an illusion of his dreams as opposed to–”

“The real thing”.

“Yes”.

Sakura exhales, “so, he asked you to leave. For both of us to leave”.

“Amongst other things”.

“Right,” Sakura hums, then pauses as she hears sounds of footsteps approach the office they both occupy.

As quick as they approach, the pair of footsteps leave again. Sakura turns back to Sasuke, “what else did he say?”

“Its, not important”.

Sakura shoots him a wry look, Sasuke exhales, “he asked me, to tell you, to not look into what his illusion did to you”.

“What does that mean?”

“It means,” Sasuke shrugs, “I guess he wants you to not think he has feelings for you. Or anything, despite –”

“Despite me being his girlfriend in this illusion”.

“Right”.

“Okay, I can look the other way”.

“He's full of shit though”.

“Sasuke-kun...”

“Did you know?” he asks, “were you aware of his feelings?”

“No, I mean, why would that matter?”

“I doesn't,” says Sasuke, “its just, I wasn't even aware”.

“Do you think it would have been something he'd told you”.

“Yes, the idiot has a tendency to overshare”.

“But this is different”.

“Is it?”

“I don't...” a smile overcomes the kunochi, and she giggles, “I just can't imagine Naruto and you discussing girls and your love life together”.

“Like I said, the idiot overshares”.

“Wow I'm...somewhat curious”.

“Its nothing that interesting”.

“But you were interested in Naruto telling you about his _not-a-crush_ on me”

“Not...interested”.

“No?”

“Just...its, unexpected”.

Sakura folds her arms across her chest, “you don't think it would have been awkward for him to tell you about, those feelings he has...about me?”

Sasuke frowns, the slight inclination of some form of an inner turmoil shadowing his expression. He decides to avoid the question, “Sakura, are you sure you didn't know of his feelings?”

“Why does it matter?”

Sasuke doesn't reply, but his expression implores her to do so nonetheless.

“I honestly didn't know, though I suppose I did find out when I found Naruto unconscious in the bathhouse, with the woman beside him”.

“How does him sleeping with another woman show you he has feelings”.

“It,” she smiles dryly, “the woman was henged to look like me. I removed the henge before you showed up”.

“Why?”

“I don't know, what do you mean?”

“Why remove it?”

“Just...because. I didn't want you to know. I didn't feel like I was supposed to know either. Least of all me. We stumbled upon one of Naruto's private moments, under some extravagant circumstance. At the very least, I could have hid this”.

Sasuke looks only semi-convinced, so Sakura tries to get off the topic, “anyway, we should leave. Like Naruto wants, like you initially wanted. We'll leave, and try your plan instead. Maybe with Kiba and Lee's chakra we can–“

“It would be awkward,” Sasuke interjects, deciding instead that he, unlike Sakura, would like to remain on topic.

“What?”

“It would be awkward”.

“What would?”

“If Naruto had told me. What you asked before. You asked if it would be awkward if Naruto had told me of his feelings about you. So my answer is that yes, it would be awkward”.

Sakura nods, “okay. Yes...we should now think about leaving”.

“Sakura, when we were walking toward the library in the Uchiha district”.

“Sasuke-kun,” Sakura interjects, “can we...not do this?”

He frowns, “what?”

“I...don't want to do this”.

“Sakura”.

“Lets just, go back, and complete the plan”.

“Sakura”.

“Please”.

He pauses, “I...do you not-”

“Look,” Sakura cuts in, “I'm, tired. I am. If I think about it. Really think about how you've acted towards me. How you've treated me these past couple of years I could probably bring myself to be angry about this. But I'm not, because I don't want to think about it. Because it hurts. So, can we drop this”.

“I...how I've treated you?”

“You know what I'm talking about”.

His eyes don't leave her gaze, “I never intended...”

“I know,” she says, “you had other things and priorities to consider. I would have done the same in your shoes, believe me. But I'm not some thing you can put away, until you're ready for...” she exhales, “I didn't even want that, I just wanted to go back to being your friend. Your team mate at the very least”.

“Sakura...you've misunderstood”

“No, Sasuke-kun,” she smiles, “I really haven't”.

“Sakura, I'm sorry”.

“No...Sasuke-kun please don't–”

“I want to”.

“I don't need it”.

“That's okay,” says Sasuke, “if I was...if my behaviour...”. He grinds his teeth, “I'm not good at this”.

A smile breaks through the kunochi's expression, a sense of understanding washes through.

She understands – but doesn't accept.

Its a step in different direction than the one she had been following aimlessly for some time.

A different direction, not necessarily the right one. Though despite this, Sakura decides some sort of an olive branch is needed.

She leans off the wall and walks to where Sasuke sits. Leaning down, she places a soft kiss upon his cheek, close to the corner of his lips.

As she pulls away, and notes (with great surprise) that Sasuke has gone red. Completely red. Though a soft smirk dusts his lips. He tries to speak; incoherent noises come out instead.

She smiles at him; softly – sadly.

Oh had this been a different time, a different place, “Sasuke-kun, do you have feelings for me?”

His eyes snap up, catching her gaze. He frowns, “that's what I been trying to tell...I thought it was...”

She giggles, “sorry, I just needed to check”.

“Sakura”.

“And, I'm sorry because...I can't-”

“Sakura,” Sasuke interjects, “I think I just needed to tell you. That's it”.

She nods, stepping back.

Sasuke stands up from his seat, “I think I've dragged this out long enough, let's wake up”.

.

.

“So where were you during the...whatever, the time? When everyone went to sleep”.

“Where was I?” asks Lee.

“Yea,” says Kiba, “I have a theory”.

Lee, busy putting on clean sheets upon Sakura's unconscious form, carefully finishes his job, then regards Kiba's question, “I believe I was training”.

“Where?”

“Or, perhaps I had a day off?”

“Where?!”

“Or, perhaps-“

“Mate, doesn't matter what you were doing, where were you doing it?”

“My geographical location”.

“Yes, nerd. You _geographical_ location”.

“I...can't recall”.

“Aw, come on!”

Lee stands from his kneeling position, and sits upon the end of the bed (careful not to disturb Naruto's form) so that he faces Kiba; of whom sits frustrated in one of the armchair's in the room.

“Why does it matter?”

“Because I got a theory”.

“A theory? I am intrigued, Kiba”.

“Well you better be, cause I think I know why you, me, Sakura, and the bastard were spared”.

Lee's eye sparkle with interest, “that's very impressive, Kiba”.

“Thank you”.

“What is your theory?”

“My theory is that, beside Sasuke, the rest of us were just lucky, and were in location that happen to miss the curse thing”.

Lee's expression of interest doesn't falter, not from genuine agreement of Kiba's theory, more from the fact that Lee has grown well practised in the art of faking interest over the course of spending time with said shinobi. After all, company in these times did not leave much room for choice.

“Interesting theory,” Lee offers, “its interesting”.

“And probably true,” says Kiba, “for me, I was in on of the external districts of the Uchiha clan at the time. You know, their closed off training grounds”.

“Why...?”

“Huh?”

“Why were you,” Lee's faux-interest fades to one more of concern, “why were you there? You aren't an Uchiha”.

“Wha – the clan isn't even around anymore”.

“Kiba!”

“Its just Sasuke”.

“Its his land!”

“He probably doesn't even know what lands he owns”.

“I don't believe that's true”.

“Look, I just wanted to train and that was the only free ground – sue me”.

“I believe Sasuke-san may be able to”.

“Oi, don't snitch on me Lee. I swear, you tell Sasuke–”

“Tell me what?” come the groggy voice of a bleary and suspicious Uchiha.

Kiba freezes, expression tense, “oh ah...you're awake”.

“I am”.

Beside Sasuke, Sakura begins to stir before her eyes open; blinking quickly to take in her surroundings. She sits up, notes how there is a pillow below her head, and a soft blanket draped across her form. She smiles, and without hesitation, turns to Lee, “thank you, Lee”.

The shinobi beams, “it is no problem, Sakura”.

Sasuke gets up, stretches, and ignore Kiba glare

“So,” Kiba pushes, “is Naruto going to wake up too?”

“No,” says Sasuke.

“Yea...okay, good joke?”

“I'm serious”.

“Aren't you always,” Kiba rolls his eyes.

“Really, Kiba,” Sakura offers, “we weren't able to wake Naruto up”.

“Wha-why?”

“Well,” says Sasuke, “its more like the idiot didn't want to wake up”.

“Didn't want to?” Lee questions, “so, Naruto is aware that he is...in a dream”.

“But chooses not to wake from it, yes,” Sakura finishes off.

“Oh brilliant,” Kiba continues, “great. Good job everyone, we've really made progress here”.

“Kiba, enough,” Sakura wearily replies.

“Look, Sakura, I'm not upset at you. Its just, this was our one shot”.

“No it wasn't,” Sasuke interjects, “we have another plan”.

Lee stands up, “Excellent,” he beams, “see Kiba, we have a plan”.

“One we're not sure it will work,” Sakura remarks, “but,” she looks at Sasuke, “we're on a countdown here, so to speak. And its the best shot we're got”.

“Okay,” says Lee, “when will we enact this plan?”

“Soon,” says Sasuke, “Sakura and I will need to rest for a bit, to recover. We will need our full strength for this, all of us”.

Kiba raises a brow, “wait, we have to help too?”

.

.

Her usual method of relaxing would vary from day to day, but she found that going for a walk best suited her to clear her mind. Typically she would stroll through the main city until she'd found herself in front of the Yamakana flower shop. Ino would greet her with a dry, “tough day, babe?”

Sakura would smirk and relay her day; sometimes her mood soured from difficult patients. Sometimes it was with the bureaucracy of Konoha's medical system which let her to somehow winding on the side of said difficult patients.

Sometimes it was Sasuke.

His behaviour towards her; leading her on – and then the sudden cold shoulder. She grew tired of it; weary.

It was as if he knew what he wanted, but something inside him stopped him from pursuing it. At least, its what Sakura had surmised.

Regardless, she'd done what she can to promise a relationship of only a platonic nature.

But that wasn't what he wanted.

Maybe he didn't know what he wanted.

In all honesty, maybe she didn't know either.

“Something on your mind, dear?”

Normally, she would jump at a voice interrupting her thoughts, but surprisingly so not this time. Sakura finds herself standing outside a dress store. Mannequins wrapped in beautiful gowns pose for passerbyers. The old woman from days ago stands beside her, Sakura greets her, “oh, hello. I didn't hear you approach”.

“You seemed quite lost in your thoughts”.

Sakura smiles, “I suppose I was”.

“Have you and your crew decided what to do about what befalls the masses”.

“We have”.

“You haven't awoken the young kyuubi though, have you?”

“No...” Sakura replies, “how did you–”

“I think that may be for the best,” the old woman continues, “I believe you are familiar with the requirements. The requirement of kindred spirits is quite crucial”.

Sakura frowns, and turns to the old lady, “you know far more than you're telling me”.

“It isn't my place to tell you want to do”.

“True,” says Sakura, “but given the circumstances, I think I can manage to hold my tongue for a little lecturing from someone far wiser than me”.

The old lady pauses, then grins, “you're being facetious, aren't you young lady?”

“Not at all”.

“I am no more wiser than anyone else would appear at my age”.

“Oh, I would beg to differ”.

This brings a chuckle out of the elderly woman, “I have Uchiha blood within me, though I do not identify as an Uchiha. My mother told me stories of my great great grandmother being an Uchiha by blood, but rejecting the clan. So I am not an Uchiha – but I am protected by them. As I guess that you are as well”.

Sakura replies, “I am not an Uchiha”.

“I know,” the woman replies, “but not all Uchiha's come from being a direct descendent off the bloodline. Despite what rumours the Senju clan may have spread about the Uchiha, the clan did marry outside. It is a clan of love after all, and those who enter through marriage are also protected”.

Sakura pauses, “why are you telling me this?”

“I'm simply telling you what I know,” the old woman explains, “I don't intend to be mysterious, I simply don't know the whole picture. Only bits and pieces of the clans lore and technique told by my mother”.

Sakura nods.

“The technique that you and the boy, the Uchiha, plan to do, must only be completed with you two involved. The ritual is clear, kindred spirits only. Outside forces cannot interfere”.

“But, I do not have enough chakra–”

“You have enough chakra, it is the bond between you I worry about”.

“Well, you should,” Sakura remarks, “I'm not his kindred spirit”.

“He may not see it that way”.

“But I do”.

“And therein lies the problem. If even one of you is unsure, the technique will fail”.

.

.

“So I think that old lady is lying,” Kiba remarks.

Sasuke turns to Lee; who in turn nods for Sasuke to at least pretend to listen. The Uchiha decides to take the note and asks for Kiba to continue.

“Okay,” says Kiba, “I think, the reasons we're all awake aren't based on that old woman's ramblings of hard-workers, of of people who have everything they want or whatever. I mean, did any of you guys hear that voice she was talking about when the curse happened?”

Both Sasuke and Lee shake their heads.

“Exactly,” booms Kiba.

“That's not enough to disprove her,” says Sasuke.

“But it is enough to cast doubts,” replies Kiba.

“I...guess that's true”.

“Right!” Kiba points out, “so, I have a second theory”.

Sasuke looks at Lee once more. He nods; Sasuke turns back to regard Kiba.

“Okay, so I think that we're all awake, except for you Sasuke, 'cause of luck”.

A beat passes.

“That...great theory, Kiba,” Sasuke deadpans.

“Oh, fuck off with your sarcasm”.

“Kiba!” Lee gasps, “that language isn't necessary”.

“I disagree,” yells Kiba.

“Why except for me?” Sasuke interjects, frustrated.

Kiba turns back to Sasuke, “cause you an Uchiha. They're safe, they deployed the curse so they're safe. The rest of us, just got lucky. Like for example, I was in an Uchiha training ground when it happened, so I was probably safe–”

“Why were you on an Uchiha training ground?” Sasuke interjects.

Kiba continues onwards, “And Lee, where were you?”

“As I said before, I'm afraid I don't remember”.

“Oh...still?”

“Yes, unfortunately”.

“Alright,” Sasuke interjects once more, “whats your point Kiba?”

“Huh?”

“What's your point?” Sasuke continues, “we are awake for potentially different reasons. Because you think so. And? How does that help us?”

Kiba pauses, “um...it doesn't”.

Sasuke nods, and stands up, “okay, I'm going to look for Sakura”.

.

.

“I do love him though, I do...I did...I should. At least given the circumstance...I have to”.

Sakura holds her elbows, and stares at the pale blue dress before her. Its a short and free flowing. It looks comfortable to wear. It would be nice to wear. To care of such things, and only such things, for just one day.

Just one.

“Sakura,” Sasuke approaches the kunochi. Her back remains to him as he nears, “what are you doing?” he asks, noting her dream-like expression.

She turns to him, “I was just talking”.

“To who?”

She frowns; then her expression softens, “to you, I suppose”.

Sasuke doesn't push the line of questioning, “should we, get started?”

Sakura's eyes grow more focused, “on the technique? Yes, sure”.

“We'll go back to the room”.

“Right”.

“Do you feel as if you've recovered enough?”

“I have”.

“Good”.

“Sasuke-kun”.

“Yes”.

“For the technique, I...I have an adjustment I'd like to make”.

“What's that?”

Sakura eyes briefly flicker to the pale blue dress, “I think it should just be you and I completing the technique. No one else”.

Without hesitation, Sasuke replies, “okay”.

.

.

Sasuke sits cross-legged in the space in which he and Sakura we're lying before. Sakura kneels behind him, her hands gingerly on his shoulders.

Beside her, Lee worries, “Sakura-chan, are you sure you want to do this alone?”

“I'm sure”.

“One hundred percent?”

“Yes Lee, one hundred percent”.

“If anything bad happens,” Kiba interjects, tone brimming with bravado, “I'll pull you out, don't worry”.

“Nothing will happen,” Sasuke states, tersely, “we'll be fine”.

“Not too concerned with you,” Kiba shoots back.

Sasuke ignores the slight and begins concentrating, “Sakura, I need you to begin slowly transferring me your chakra at a slow pace”.

The kunochi nods, a soft glow emanating from from her fingertips.

A few seconds pass and the glow increases in; her green begins to mix in with the purple streams of light that begin to form around the pair.

Lee steps back in awe whilst Kiba expresses his admiration with a few colourful choice of words.

Sakura; trapped within the technique beings to feel hyper-aware of her surroundings. Kiba and Lee around her appear to move in slow motion. A soft feeling of enlightenment fills her heart as she feels the curse slowly lift from those in the city, spreading beyond the borders as Sasuke continues the technique.

Her heart beats loudly within her chest. The pulsating sound rings in her ears.

Then, she begins to hear the beat of Sasuke heart. Beating so close. As if it too were inside her chest.

The feeling calms her, and unnerves her all at once.

She sees nothing more than the back of Sasuke's head, not even a slight twitch can be seen from the shinobi.

For Sakura, his concentration on the task at hand is truly inspiring.

She can feel the end draw near, it is at this moment a spectre within her vision begins to form. Trapped as well beyond the green and purple streams that surround the couple. The spectre takes a form Sakura has seen before – but she cannot recall in that instant.

Sasuke appears to not react to the creature before them.

The spectre, she realises - it isn't unlike Sasuke's Susanoo.

Sakura closes her eyes, trying to shut out the distraction but the spectre speaks to her. His voice booms in her ears.

_'This cannot be completed, unless you give in, as he has to you'_

Sakura's eyes snap open, “I have,” she yells.

The spectre grins at her, ' _you must give in_ '

.

.

Naruto awakens with a jolt, he sits up, and looks around to the room he sits in.

He is naked, in a bed – a woman beside him currently argues with Kiba.

“So what if I am!” she bellows to his fellow shinobi.

Kiba yells back at her, “we don't have time for this, Lee, Sasuke – what are we going to do?”

Beside this scene, Lee and Sasuke kneel next to what looks to be Sakura's unconscious form on the floor. Naruto rubs the sleep from his eyes.

“What happened, Sasuke-san!?” Lee persists, true worry lacing his voice.

Sasuke ignore the shinobi, instead diverting all his attention to Sakura. He shakes her gingerly, softly speaking, “Sakura, Sakura, wake up”.

Kiba beside him throws his hands in the air, “oh just brilliant, just brilliant. This is your fault Sasuke. Seriously, you said nothing bad would happen to her”.

“Kiba, there is no need to throw blame around,” Lee exclaims.

“I disagree!!” Kiba yells back.

“Kiba, shut up,” Sasuke retorts.

“Make me”.

“Enough,” Lee interjects, only then noting Naruto sitting up, blearily trying to understand the situation before him, “oh, Naruto-san, you're awake”.

Naruto nods, groggily replying, “yea, I am...uh, what happened to Sakura-chan”.

“Exactly what I want to know!” Kiba adds.

Sasuke sighs, “I don't know”.

“You don't?!”

“Shut up, Kiba. I...I wouldn't have done this intentionally”.

“Who cares, she's still unconscious”.

“Perhaps she didn't have enough chakra,” Lee softly offers, “perhaps some of the technique backfired onto Sakura-chan, as a consequence”.

“No,” Sasuke shakes her head, “there was enough chakra, I know it”.

“No you don't” Kiba unhelpfully adds.

Sasuke ignore him, “I missed something...something”.

“Sasuke-san, we can wake her by...”

“I'm moving her to a bed,” Sasuke announces. Lee stands up to get out of the way of the Uchiha lifting the kunochi up; his missing hand substituted with his Susasnoo. 

Naruto, still out of it, offers the bed he is currently in.

Sasuke leaves the room, Sakura within his arms. Lee quickly follows.

“We cannot stay here in this bathhouse, everyone is slowly waking up”.

“I'd like to see them kick us out,” Sasuke replies.

Lee struggles to come up with a counterpoint to this.

Sasuke finds a spare room, and carefully lays Sakura down. Lee looks on with worry.

“How is it that Sakura could be affected”.

“I...I miscalculated”.

“You mustn't blame yourself, Sasuke-san”.

“It doesn't matter,” Sasuke replies, “if its my fault or not, we need to wake her”.

“How?”

“I...I'll do the same thing to her that I did to Naruto”.

Lee's eyes widen, “brilliant, if you tell Sakura she is affected, then she will simply wake up”.

Sasuke nods, somewhat unconvinced, “yes...that's the plan”.

His mind continues to swirl as Sasuke looks onto Sakura's unconscious form –  _he had miscalculated, but how?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again, comments are appreciated :)


	5. Chapter 5

“Lee, let me in! Let me in!!”

“Kiba-san...I, are you alone?”

“Wha?”

“Kiba-san, I will open the door”.

“Good!”

“If you are alone”.

“...what?”

Lee sighs, and glances back to the unconscious forms of Sasuke and Sakura. Her form lies on the right side of the bed, hair and clothes neat; she'd been carefully laid down.

Sasuke's form indicates less delicate circumstances. A dojutsu performed in haste.

Lee's contemplation is interrupted. A booming declaration of “dude, I'm alone” rings from the other side of the door.

Lee opens up the door. Kiba bursts through, and true to his word, he is alone.

“Wha...why is Sasuke asleep again?”

Lee closes the door behind him, “Kiba, you're being too loud”.

“I...what?”

“The owners of this bathhouse–”

“They're still waking up, dude, don't worry about it”.

“...well”.

“So, Sakura...isn't doing well”.

Lee refrains from rolling his eyes – it isn't really his style. “This is serious, Kiba-san”.

“Yea I know, I'm not making a joke”.

“Sasuke is trying to wake her”.

“Yea but why is she asleep. Everyone is waking, the curse has lifted”.

“I'm not sure why this happened to Sakura-chan,” says Lee, “I do not think even Sasuke knows”.

“This is stupid”.

“Its...”

“I bet he knew of this risk”.

“Kiba,” Lee's expression sobers, “don't say things like that”.

“Like what?”

“Sasuke-san wouldn't intentionally hurt Sakura-chan”.

Kiba shakes his head. A small derisive chuckle escapes him, “actually Lee, he would. He has. Its what he does”.

Lee pauses, “are you angry at Sasuke-san?”

“Yea”.

“...I didn't expect you to admit that so freely”.

“Do you know how he treats her”.

“With respect”.

Another chuckle, “nah – just nah”.

.

.

This doesn't surprise him – none of it.

The quaint little cottage, like something out of a fairy-tale. Uneven brick walls; mismatched in colour by slight variations. Flowered vines climbing the side, stone steps leading to the front door, and a small chimney to top it off. Sasuke is not surprised to see this is the home Sakura's mind has decided to conjure up.

It doesn't surprise him – nor the fact that the cottage is surrounded by the greenest of grass, bordered by the lush and thick canopy of a forest. A crystalline stream of water breaks through the trees, directed by neatly placed boulders. The air is fresh. Even though it is an illusion, even though the act of breathing holds little importance within a genjutsu. All the same, everything around him feels crisp, safe.

But again, Sasuke had expected this.

What Sasuke does not expect, however, is for Sakura to be standing outside her cottage; eyes wide, stating sadly, “Sasuke-kun....you shouldn't exist”.

.

.

“You do not understand what you are talking about, Kiba-san. He respects her more than any of us”.

“And I'm saying that isn't enough. Its below par. He should treat her better”.

Lee sighs, “what, in your eyes, is Sasuke-san doing wrong?”

“Everything”.

“I...”

“I mean, like...dude. You know what I mean”.

Lee does not reply.

“He ignores her, and then doesn't, then isn't clear with her, and then is...I feel bad for her”.

“How Sasuke gives affection....uh....is, perhaps, probably, maybe...different from the rest of–”

“It isn't about that!”

“Then...”

“Its just, okay, he ain't an affectionate guy. Who cares. But a man needs to have more conviction in his actions than what Sasuke is putting down. Like, I feel weird saying this – Sasuke is pretty well set in all other aspects of his life. He's got his shit together way more than I have. I'll even admit that freely. But with her...”

“That's normal, Kiba-san. He's... trying”.

Kiba frowns, “is he?”

.

.

Sasuke approaches slowly. Her guard isn't up. That's a good sign.

“Sakura,” he begins, softly.

She tilts her head, “I'm asleep, aren't I?”

Sasuke blinks, “you know?”

“I do now,” she says.

He frowns as she smirks, knowing more information is needed.

“Okay,” Sakura begins, “you, don't exist. I didn't remember you, until now. And that means you're not supposed to be here”.

“Is that, what you want?”

“Pardon?”

“Your desired world is for one in which I don't exist?”

Sakura opens her mouth, then closes it, thinking. “It...no. Don't read into this”.

“I disagree”.

“I don't know why this world was created...and the fact that I'm now under the curse...”

“The curse was lifted,” Sasuke interjects before Sakura can conclude anything. “We succeeded, in a way. Although you, and you alone, are now under”.

She nods, slowly.

“I don't know why this happened”.

“You don't?”

“No”.

“Maybe its simply the price to pay for lifting the curse. One life for the sake of all others-”

“Don't be ridiculous”.

“I'm not”.

“Why would the technique be created as such?”

“I don't know...why does the technique exist at all?”

“For battles, war”.

“Lives are sacrificed all the time in war”.

“Are you being facetious?”

“What kind of person would I be to want to be facetious on the topic of war”.

Sasuke narrows his gaze, “right, well, in any case, you need to wake up”.

“Okay”.

“You know that you're under so its better than the circumstance with Naruto”.

“I suppose it is”.

“So, go”.

“Go?”

“Wake up”.

“...how?”

“...”

“How am I suppose to wake up?”

Sasuke frowns, “fuck”.

.

.

The cottage is bigger than it appears to be on the outside. Sasuke chalks it up to the genjutsu's lack of restriction to real world physics. Shelves line the wall for far longer than necessary. The books look like they have been pulled straight from another dimension. Sakura smiles wryly at him, whilst a the kettle behind her begin to boil the water inside.

His look remains neutral, “this was our plan for Naruto”.

She shrugs, grinning from ear to ear, “I guess we were destined to fail”.

“Sakura...”

“Tea?” she offers, taking the now wailing kettle off the stove.

Sasuke sighs, remarks that this really isn't the time to which Sakura promptly ignores and pours him a mug. She hands him the cup; pictures of cats printed on it. He thanks her regardless.

“If you wake me, Sasuke-kun, there is the risk of the curse reverting”.

Sasuke takes a sip of his drink, and places it down on the wooden table before him. He adjusts his sitting position; leaning back, “you don't know that”.

“We don't know a lot about this curse,” Sakura counters back, “case in point,” she makes a gesture towards herself.

“its a risk we need to take”.

“No, it isn't”.

“What?”

“My life,” Sakura holds her left palm out, “versus the rest of the world,” she holds out her right, slowly raising her right whilst lowering her left, “they don't exactly weigh the same”.

“Don't do that”.

“Do what?”

“Ignore your value”.

She chuckles, “I'm being realistic here”.

He grits his teeth, “if we revert this, we're just back to where we started. Which doesn't matter, we can continue onwards from there looking for another cure”.

“Sasuke-kun, that's silly-”

“Sakura, how long do you have”.

A slight urgency laces his tone, after all, those under the curse aren't under forever. Very soon, they will die. He cannot see why Sakura would be any different, “A month? Less” be begins to offer.

Her smile fades, “I...you cannot expect me to be okay with you reverting this,” she grips her mug, “and, for that matter, you probably don't even know how”.

His eyes meet hers. Sasuke holds the gaze, as if searching for a motive. She grows uncomfortable, and breaks it, looking away.

He sighs, “you've given up already, haven't you?”

She pauses, “I'm sorry”.

“Sakura”.

“I know why the curse has put me in this state”.

.

.

Three loud rapts on the door break Kiba and Lee out of their discussion. Simultaneously , the pair look towards the entrance, waiting for the person on the other side to speak.

They wait, relax, then tense up once more as Naruto's voice speaks from the other side, “Oi, Sasuke! You in there?”

Kiba's eyes widen. In a silent display he opens his mouth in a silent scream, places both hands on the top of his head, and begins to bounce quietly around the room.

Lee, however, chooses a different response. He silently contemplates how best to react to this situation.

Another chorus of, “seriously bastard, are you in there?” comes from the other side of the door.

At this mark, Lee begins to act. Approaching the beside table of the room, Lee begins to push it against the object, allowing it to bang against the wall. To accompany this sound, Lee also begins emitting a higher-than-his-regular pitch moans.

Kiba looks on in shock, but catches on quick enough. Complimenting Lee's moans with loud, burly grunts.

The pair lock eyes, uncomfortably, then break contact. They increase the pace of their groans.

A quick mumble of, “heh, wrong room” is heard from Naruto, followed by his footsteps leading away from the door.

The pair stop when they know the blond is out of earshot.

A brief silence follows.

Kiba catches Lee's gaze once more before breaking it with haste, frowning.

“We will never speak of this to anyone,” Kiba states.

Lee shakes his head, “Kiba, it was a simple diversion tactic with no shame-”

“Never!” Kiba interjects, “to no one, ever – ever, ever!”

.

.

Kindred spirits, that's all it took.

But the Uchiha clan had a different definition of kindred. One that gave power back to that person. The gods could not determine your kindred spirit. Your ancestors before you could not either. The only person that the could determine ones spirit was oneself.

Because under all other definitions, Sakura could not be that to Sasuke. They had no shared history beyond being placed on the same genin team. There wasn't a great force from history that dictated their meeting.

They just knew each other. In a way they grew up together.

Boy meets girl, girl loves boy.

“Kindred spirits,” Sasuke echo's, his mind processing Sakura's explanation.

She nods. Sakura cannot meet his gaze.

They aren't kindred spirits. She did not let him in – and here they are.

“What did you,” he begins, unsure, “what did you...consider me?”

“I...” Sakura replies, “you're my...”

Sasuke frowns, “you know of my feelings for you”.

Sakura nods, “likewise,” she whispers.

“However you didn't...”

“I...I don't know, I just,” she pauses, “I know where you stand. I know where I stand. But, you know...what does that change?”

Sasuke looks on, perplexed, “that's up to us”.

Sakura frowns, “I guess, I still thought of you as...a friend”.

“Okay,” says Sasuke, “that's not how I think of you”.

“So we came into the technique unbalanced”.

“I think you're lying,” Sasuke pauses, “I don't think you think of me as a friend”.

“I...”

“I think you think of me the same way I do to you”.

She smiles, defeat lacing her expression, “that's not true”.

“Why?”

She purses her lips, “Sasuke-kun...you know how I feel about you”.

“I do,” he says.

“No, I mean, do you truly know?”

He blinks, “I know”.

“I...its not some school girl crush”.

He smirks, “neither is mine”.

She refrains from rolling her eyes, “I'm just,” she pauses, “maybe I'm not convinced”.

“I have no reason to lie to you”.

“I get that”.

“Sakura...”

“Days ago you told Kiba–”

“That _this _was none of his business”.

“That's what you said that time as well”.

“I stand by it”.

She pauses, “are you ashamed?”

“Never”.

“Are you unsure?”

“No”.

She smiles, “are you unsure of what to do with...”

“You're the only one unsure here, Sakura,” says Sasuke, his expression remaining unchanged.

“I...”

“I'm sure, I know what I want”.

Sakura doesn't reply. She pauses, looks away, then says, “Ironic, isn't it?”

“What is?”

“I've told you I love you, more than once. And yet here you are, saying that I'm the one that's unsure”.

“And I take responsibility of that,” Sasuke surmises, “I've led you on...thinking I've been ready but at the same time, I've been scared to lose you”.

“I haven't asked anything from you”.

“I'm not saying you have,” says Sasuke, “this is on me. This is what I want. These are my problems”.

“I...”

“But, this is cowardly”.

Sakura exhales a quiet chuckle, “cowardly”.

He watches her closely. Her eyes still don't shine like they used to, “you don't believe me, do you?”

“I'm...not sure”.

“Exactly my point”.

“Funny”.

Sasuke smirks, stands up from his chair and approaches Sakura's form. He leans down, pressing his forehead against hers; somewhat enjoying the way her eyes widen at the gesture. He cups her cheek with his single hand, “there won't be another after you, I'm sure of it. Even if nothing happens, even if you choose to walk away from whatever could happen, it wouldn't matter. Because you'll still be the last – and though you may not say it, the same can be said for you to me. You've stood by me regardless, now I can do the same to you whether you want or need it”.

That shine he expects to see begins to appear. However brief, it is still something to him.

“I...” she begins, unsure how to continue, “why?”

He tries not to laugh. Sasuke leans away, standing upright, “I could ask you the same question”.

Sakura replies, “I...yes I suppose you could”.

“So”.

“So?”

“So, why to you?”

A soft pout forms on her lips, “I...don't know. I just do. I, can't control something like that”.

“Neither can I”.

She laughs, quietly, and briefly, “yea, I suppose you can't,” she pauses, “I'm sorry, that I didn't tell you, that I...”

“Sakura,” Sasuke interjects, “this is my fault”.

“No, its not”.

“I should have been honest. That old lady warned me–”

“Old lady?”

“That, you know – she also survived, she gave us clues about this...”

“Ah”.

“Right, her, she warned me, and I went in unsure”.

“Whats done is done”.

“Yea, well. Here we are”.

“Sakura...”

“We're stuck, because I wasn't honest–”

“We”.

“Fine, we weren't honest. And now I can't wake up because I don't know how”.

.

.

“You know,” says Kiba, “its kind of odd”.

Lee looks towards the second shinobi, sitting upon the windowsill, breaking his gaze of the streets now slowly coming to life. “What is odd?” he asks.

“That its just us that remain unaffected”.

Lee studies the other man's expression, “did we not discuss this already”.

“We never came to a conclusion”.

“I suppose we didn't”.

“There is something odd about just us surviving – us and that old lady, I guess”.

“And that group of travellers we saw once,” Lee adds.

“Oh yea,” says Kiba, “yea”.

.

.

Its somewhat surreal to Sakura; the fact not the act. She knew that if Sasuke were to ever admit what he did in fact admit to her, moments ago, that he would have done it with all the Sasuke-ism that make up his being.

He wasn't direct, but he was by his standards. From an outsiders point of view the affection was minimal, but for Sakura, it was so much more than she'd ever thought she would receive from him.

Sasuke sits quietly, contemplating the possible missteps of his clan's techniques.

Sakura sits beside him, but contemplates something else.

_What now?_

Their honesty has come in a _little-too-late_ scenario.

She'd wanted this for so long but at the same time she'd dreaded the possibility. Because what happens after in the story, she never figured it out.

Boy meets girl, girl loves boy...then what?

_Then what?_

“Sakura,” Sasuke speaks softly, interjecting her thoughts.

“Huh?”

“I think, if I leave, I can try and wake you from the outside”.

Sakura nods, “okay, we can try”.

“I'll come back if it doesn't work”.

“No,” says Sakura.

“No?”

“...no, don't come back. What would be the point?”

“What do you mean?”

“I already know I'm under the curse, there isn't any point for you to come back. There is nothing more you can do for me here”.

.

.

“You still owe me money”.

Naruto splutters, “wha-hey! Keep it down”.

A couple of men in towels walk past the pair, heading straight to the hot springs. Naruto; haphazardly dressed, hair still a mess, pulls up his collar higher than necessary in a feeble attempt at modesty.

Naruto's company taps her foot against the floor, her stiletto's gleam the way her eyes do. She will get paid. Her services were used; perhaps not to the fullest extent but they were used.

“I...look I'll get the money,” Naruto sheepishly remarks.

“Ex_cuse_ me?”

“In, like a week – or two”.

“You said you were good”.

Naruto smirks, “heh, wasn't I?”

Naruto's, now former escort, raises an eyebrow, “If you're trying to make a joke about your performance, I can confidently tell you that no, you weren't good. However I can lie for an extra fifty and tell you that you were the _'best I ever had_'. However since you aren't even **good** for the actual cost of my main service, I'll tell you straight up, no – you aren't good, by any definition of the word”.

Naruto nods solemnly, “that was so mean”.

The woman smirks, “pay me loser, or they'll be hell to pay”.

Naruto takes half a step back – an exit strategy. All he needs is an exit strategy.

“Excuse me young man, do you know if the owner of this bathhouse has awoken yet. I'd prefer to slip by without payment if possible – oh, you understand”.

Naruto's exit strategy – check. An elderly woman, approaching the pair, speaks to Naruto in the out that he needs. The escort turns to the old woman, “how do you know the owner was asleep, do you know him?”

The old woman turns to the younger, “oh, ah...nevermind, perhaps I'll just slip by”.

The younger woman smiles, “Don't worry, we won't tell,” adding a wink thereafter.

The older woman laughs, “oh, you're too sweet”.

Naruto snorts, “ha, nah she ain't”.

Both woman turn to Naruto, eyes trained. The older woman shakes her head, turning back to the younger, stating, “oh my, you can do much better”.

Naruto booms out, “hey, what! She's an escort”.

Said escort rolls her eyes. The older woman shakes her head once more, and regards the younger again, “oh sweetheart, you can  **definitely** do better”.

.

.

Its approaching dawn when Sasuke wakes up. Lee is sitting quietly, meditating. Kiba is watching the people in the streets below in the lone window of the room.

Sasuke clears his throat.

Lees eyes snap open. Kiba jumps and turns to regard the noise, “oi, you're awake”.

Sasuke nods, “I am”. His voice is groggier than expected – strange; he wasn't out for that long.

“Sasuke-san, how are you–”

“Hey, why isn't Sakura awake!” Kiba yells, pointing at the still unconscious body of the kunochi.

Sasuke shakes his head, “I can't wake her from...within her mind”.

“What?”

“She knows she's under, but–”

“This is such bullshit!” Kiba exclaims.

Sasuke pauses, “yea, I guess it is”.

“Does Sakura-chan know why this happened to her?” Lee asks, hopefully.

“Yea,” says Sasuke, “she knows”.

Both Lee and Kiba turn to each other, then back to Sasuke, asking in unison, “and?”

Sasuke opens his mouth, closes it, then clears his throat, “nevermind”.

Kiba splutters, “what?”

“The details aren't important”.

“Have you...lost your mind!?”

“The details aren't important”.

“With respect,” Lee interjects, “Sasuke-san, I would think that Sakura's condition directly relates to...how she was put in that...condition”.

Sasuke presses against the bridge of his nose, “yes, I understand”.

“What are you hiding, man!?” Kiba exclaims.

Before Sasuke can answer, a soft knock comes from the other side of the door.

.

.

What was she doing before Sasuke had appeared?

She must have been blissfully unaware of her predicament.

_Wait, was she happy?_

_Was it better?_

She sighs, and decides to leave her cottage for some 'fresh air' – at least the thought of it.

_How does she get out? How to wake oneself when knowing this is a dream?_

Sakura takes a look at her surroundings; is this really where she'd want to live for the rest of her life? Its a beautiful area, no doubt about it. But it is isolated; far too isolated.

Within her thoughts, as Sakura watches the slow pace of the water stream, a movement within the trees catches her eyes.

She turns without haste, her position naturally falling into a defensive one.

Movement – within the trees.

_Had she just imagined it? Was she that on edge?_

_Or was something else here?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments are appreciated :D


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry, long delay. also i guess the chapter is a tad shorter than usual, i think...

_ Calm down _ , she repeats like a mantra to herself. Three times - four times; Sakura clenches her jaw, and considers her choices.

One - she goes into the shrubs and sees what was in there, or two - she doesn’t and remains paranoid. All of which in the end pose no threat because as Sasuke’s sudden appearance had told her;  _ none of this matters _ .

She thinks - how does injury work in such a genjutsu

How does death?

Her resolve is chosen as Sakura takes a step towards the forest that surrounds her cottage. She smiles, perhaps in an attempt to fool her brain into thinking that she has the upper hand.

She wades past the first set of trees:  _ nothing _ .

Sakura continues on until she emerges from the shrubs to find herself at a clearing. She stands before a small cottage, surrounded by lush grass and beside a crystalline-blue stream.

She blinks,  _ how is it that she’d come back to her cottage? _

Sakura takes another step towards the structure. Perhaps this is the limit of the genjutsu. Perhaps this is all she’d wanted. True isolation -  _ why though _ \-  _ where had her head been? _

She sighs, tucks a strand of hair behind her ear, and begins walking to her cottage.

“History appears to repeat itself, I see”.

The voice behind her; cold, low, and somewhat familiar - freezes Sakura in her tracks.

.

.

Kiba gives Sasuke a shove on his arm. The act does very little to move the Uchiha, who looks up to his ‘ _ attacker’ _ , and remarks, “get it out of your system?”

“No,” Kiba grunts.

Lee steps in between the two men, “Sasuke-san, do you intend to find a solution to our problem alone?”

Sasuke turns his attention to Lee, “what?”

“Sakura is still-”

“I know”.

“And...if you do not fill Kiba and I in on the situation, there is very little we can help you with”.

“That’s not true,” says Sasuke, “you just...you just don’t need to know all the details”.

“Sasu…” Lee trails off, “can’t you see that if you don’t tell us, Kiba and I are stuck without being able to help you further”.

Sasuke frowns, “just, I’ll…”

“She confessed, didn’t she?” Kiba interjects, hands crossed over his chest; his expression unexpectedly serious.

Lee shakes his head, but stops from reprimanding Kiba when noticing that Sasuke has not corrected the shinobi.

Lee’s eyes widened, “I...what?”

Sasuke clicks his tongue, “this isn’t any of your business”.

Kiba barks out a laugh, “so I’m right”.

“I’m not saying that”.

“You’re not  _ not  _ saying it”.

Sasuke, frustrated by the scene, turns away, pauses, then moves to leave the room. Kiba snickers as the door slams behind the last Uchiha.

Lee, regaining his composure, turns to Kiba, gaping somewhat.

Kiba rolls his eyes, “oh come on, it was obvious”.

Lee slowly shakes his head, “I thought they were already together”.

.

.

The man is handsome, possibly a few years older than her; with dark black hair and eyes, and a charming grin, “Uchiha always seem to fancy such unique looking girls”.

His voice is cool, and crisp. It reminds her a bit of Sasuke’s voice.

Sakura, switching her mantra from ‘ _ calm down’ _ to ‘ _ it's not even real!’ _ , takes a small step forward, and remarks cheerfully, “welcome to my humble abode”.

The man raises an eyebrow, “odd reaction”.

Sakura smiles, “you’re not real”.

Interests are piqued from the company before her; he stands a little straighter, his eyes glean with intent, “oh, you’ve figured it out?”

Sakura nods, “it's weird, I didn’t think my cognition would create someone I haven’t met before”.

The man steps around her form, and takes a seat upon one of the steps that leads to her cottage. He looks up with a wry smile to the kunoichi. “You don’t know who I am?”

Sakura shakes her head, intrigued.

“I’m trying to process you,” the man says, looking away to the stream of water that runs by the cottage, “I don’t know how many years have passed, and now another is here”.

“What?”

“You”.

Sakura rolls her eyes, “I know you mean me...can you please not be so vague”

The man’s composure almost slips; he blinks, then grins, “you’re...not what I expected”.

“Okay”.

“No, you’re a bit more inquisitive”.

“Yep...so…”

“Odd for someone so pretty”.

“Excuse me?”

“I don’t mean to assume”.

“You just...did…”

“My...well, she was far less concerned about the nature of things than you appear to be”.

“...what”.

The man grins, “you’re not in your own conscious, let’s start there”.

Sakura frowns, “I’m not”.

“No,” says the man, sighing with feigned boredom, “and neither am I”.

Sakura, frustrated at the pace her potentially not-a-conscious character was going, takes an intimidating step forward and leans down, “don’t lie to me, I know this is a powerful genjutsu, I know I’m trapped inside because of a backfire-”

“A backfire,” the man repeats, “...again?”

“Again?”

The man grins, “how do you think I got here?”

Sakura leans away, tilting her head to one side, “were you caught up as well?”

“Yes,” says the man, “but I’m guessing not from your backfire, but from the time it happened to me. Definitely before your...time”.

Sakura pauses, trying to run through the events in her head, “are you an Uchiha?”

The man smiles, “as I’m guessing you are as well”.

Sakura laughs, “I’m not an Uchiha”.

Now it is the man’s turn to laugh, “well, according to the genjutsu, you are. Otherwise, you’d be trapped in your own consciousness. The fact that you aren’t...well, I suppose now we’re both ‘ _ doomed’  _ a fate worse than the, well, simply put, non-Uchiha’s”

Sakura counts her heartbeats; up to three. She studies the man’s face; he did look like an Uchiha - then again she only had one reference point, “so,” she begins, “I’m trapped because the genjutsu thinks I’m an Uchiha”.

The man nods, “there must be an Uchiha out there that loves you dearly. It's the way our clan works, it's either blood, or love. Can be rather limiting at times however…”

“How long have you been here?” Sakura probes on.

“I don’t know”.

“Why are you here?”

“Same reason as you”.

“But…” Sakura pauses, “why did you come now?”

At this, the man smiles once more, “I guess, because after walking for god knows how long, I just happened to stumble upon you”.

“And you’ve never been able to escape”.

The man shrugs, “why should I?”

“Why shouldn’t you?”

The man laughs; cold, and hollow, “don’t you get it?”

Sakura replies non-verbally, her glare matches his jovial gaze.

“Immortality”.

Sakura frowns, “what?”

“Here I am, years later, as young as the-”

“This genjutsu, this curse, will decay the body after a month-”

“Again,” the man interjects, his tone echoing a faux exasperation, “that’s for everyone else, not us. You and I are both Uchiha’s. Well, you are as long as the person…still…”

Sakura frowns, “and if, this person, stops?”

Sighing, the man stands up, “if this person stops, what will happen to you will be the same thing that happened to my love”.

Sakura watches, as the man begins to hum to himself as he lazily walks towards the stream. The water meanders at a lazy pace; the man’s eyes are transfixed, not even turning to acknowledge as Sakura walks up to stand beside him.

“What happened to her?”

“Does it matter?”

Sakura pauses, “I think it does”.

The man smiles, and turns his head in a flash towards the kunoichi, “I don’t think you need to worry. A pretty thing like yourself, whoever this man or woman is from the Uchiha clan, will love you for as long as you need”.

Sakura frowns, ready to rebut, but is interjected once more by her company, “and even if they do, I can alway fill in - it's been so long, really, since my love has...gone”.

Sakura tries not to laugh, the man before her picks up on her levity of the situation, and clears his throat, “like I said, nothing to worry about”.

.

.

Sasuke bumps into Naruto on the staircase, and lets out a curse.

Naruto grins, “uh, good to see you too buddy”.

Sasuke rolls his eyes.

Naruto narrows his, “so uh, didn’t ask you this before but, what are  _ you  _ doing here?”

Sasuke pauses, remembering the activities Naruto had come here for, “to bathe,” he replies lamely.

Naruto’s cheshire grin widens, “uh huh”.

“...I really don’t have time for this”.

“Mmmhmmm”.

Sasuke steps to the side, intending to move around Naruto. Kiba however chooses this moment to call from the top of the stairs, “mate, are you really going to just leave Sakura?”

Sasuke frowns - no. No he couldn’t just leave Sakura in the hands of tweedle dee and tweedle green. Sasuke turns around and begins climbing the stairs once more; but this time a presence sticks close on every step.

“Naruto,” Sasuke begins, “what are you doing?”

“Uh,” Naruto rolls his eyes, “going to Sakura-chan with you, come on I know she’s sick”.

“What?”

“When I woke up...it was really weird you were in my room by the way but whatever, when I woke up she was in your arms...well, arm...well I guess your susanoo is yours-”

“You’re not coming with me,” Sasuke tersely remarks.

This was the last thing he needed right now.

Naruto scoffs, “um, yes I am”.

Sasuke looks up, exchanging a look with Kiba who sighs, “fine, but where?”

Sasuke pauses, “that old lady’s place”.

“What?”

“Lee...went there”.

“I don’t know where it is”.

“Just...we’ll come get you”.

Naruto remains silent and confused throughout the exchange. Expressing a perplexed “what” before getting tackled by Kiba - somehow taking the s-classed jinchuruki by surprise.

Sasuke takes this moment to run back up the stairs, burst back into their room, and scoop Sakura up in his arms. He turns to Lee and remarks flatly, “relocating”.

Lee nods, “where?”

“Old lady’s place, she may be able to help”.

As the two shinobi leave, one with Sakura in his firm grasp, the irony of Kiba falling to the bottom of the stairs with Naruto, looking up, and finding said ‘old lady’ looking down at him, disapprovingly, is enough to make Kiba laugh; knowing Sasuke and Lee must have already gone by now.

The old woman sighs, “ah, nice to see you again”.

Kiba and Naruto, in unison, remark, “uh...you too”. 

The two shinobi exchange confused looks.

The old woman then grabs Kiba by the collar to yank him up, “the girl?” she remarks.

Kiba looks up, down to Naruto anxiously, then says quietly, “um....affected?”

The old woman pauses; a smile slowly creeps upon her lips, “ah, it worked out then”.

.

.

Sakura walks away, heading to her cottage. The man, whose name she’d still not bothered to learn, turns around and calls out to her, “where are you going?”

Without looking to regard him, Sakura replies, “I need to get back, I don’t see how you can help me”.

Climbing the three wooden steps to her abode, Sakura opens the door and is greeted by the soft fragrance of the candle she’d been burning.  _ This is so odd _ , she muses,  _ for a genjutsu to do this much to the senses _ .

“Hey,” says the man, who now sits upon one of her couches; her pink and yellow couch pillows thrown aside.

Logically, it shouldn’t be possible for him to have made it from the river to the couch inside her house before she had.

Sakura smiles, “ah, you know more about this genjutsu than I do”.

“I’ve been here for a long time, remember?” the man replies, smirking.

Sakura nods, and folds her arms over her chest, “are you just here to bother me, then?”

“I haven’t had company in years, do you blame me?”

“Well that depends?”

“On what?” asks the man.

Sakura clicks her tongue, pausing, “well, how did you end up here in the first place?”

“How did you?”

“You know how-”

“I mean the specifics,” says the man, “you tell me your story, and I’ll tell you mine”.

Sakura mulls this over, “hmm, pass”.

The man balks, “what?”

“Pass”.

“Yea I heard you”.

“Great, on the same page then-”

“Why would you - I thought you wanted to leave”.

“I do”.

“Then?”

“Well, this is likely another attempt by you to be vague, and mysterious. You’ll make me tell your story, but you won't tell me yours, I’m sure” she takes a step into her kitchen, and leans against one of the counters, “you haven’t been that helpful thus far”.

“Well...true”.

“So?”

“But, that was on purpose. I can be helpful if required”.

“Oh joy,” comes the monotone reply of a kunoichi losing interest.

The man hesitates, “you know I didn’t tell you this, but this genjutsu, the technique - I’m the original creator”.

Sakura allows a beat to pass. The man sits quietly with an expression that is so sure, so confident: like that of a criminal who has just gotten away with a crime. But the kunoichi sees none of this to be warranted, as she softly begins to giggle, much to the displeasure of her company.

“Hey,” he begins, slowly.

“You’re the creator?” Sakura interjects.

The man’s jaw clenches, “is that so funny?”

“Well, it's odd,” Sakura replies, “I mean, you’re stuck in here”.

“Not by choice,” he replies, exasperatedly.

“Yet you,  _ created _ , this”.

“Like I said - not-by-choice”.

Sakura nods, now attempting to refrain from taking the situation with too much levity.

“I...was forced here,” says the man.

“By who?”

“By...my fiance”. 

Sakura raises a brow, “your now long lost love”.

“No,” he says, “no her”.

“Ooh, scandalous”.

“That’s enough”.

“So, revenge with a hint of irony?”

The man pauses, “I suppose one could say that”.

“Well, it isn’t the same reason as to why I’m here”.

“Maybe not the specifics”.

“No, no,” Sakura forces down her smile, “I’m here because...look, I’m here because I messed up dispelling this genjutsu. It was, plaguing, well I don’t know how far reaching it was but-”

“Everyone was affected,” the man finishes.

Sakura rolls her eyes, “well, you would know about how this all works”.

The man stands up, anxiety lacing his distant gaze, “why was everyone under?”

“I don’t know,” Sakura replies, “it just was. One day everyone was under”.

“That, shouldn’t be possible”.

Sakura searches his expression, “why not?”

“Because I’m still here,” he says.

.

.

Lee had been off exploring the house for roughly five minutes now; general reconnaissance. It would be unfortunate should the abode they’d broken into be occupied by a family. 

Lee had sworn this was the house he’d found that old lady in, but the decoration of the place seemed to be unexpected for the Uchiha; too cold, and dusty. Then again, Sasuke barely knew the lady. His notions about her perceived personality aside, if Lee said this was the house, there was very little reason to be doubtful.

Saskue sits in a chair beside the large canopy bed he’d placed Sakura upon. Her breathing was calm. Her expression was peaceful.

He breaks his line of sight, frustrated.

What was he going to do about the situation?

_ Useless _ .

He was useless.

And there was a time limit. 

One he wouldn’t abide by - if the situation dictated, he would reverse this.

Then, he frowns,  _ maybe he could just reverse this _ .

They’d be back to square one but they’d have Sakura on their side again. 

He knew Sakura disapproved of this solution but truth be told, what other plan did they have?

Sasuke looks back to the ‘sleeping’ form of the woman who holds his heart. He swallows, and lets a calm wash over himself.

_ She wouldn’t want this. _


	7. Chapter 7

He never took in the beauty of the cottage the first time. Hidden away from curious eyes, with beautiful open spaces surrounding the area. Sasuke could imagine himself wanting to live in a place like this.

If the opportunity arose.

Approaching the abode, a familiar voice sounds from inside - _ and a not so familiar voice _.

A man’s voice.

A man’s voice he’d not heard of before.

Without hesitation, Sasuke enters unannounced.

Sakura is mid-sentence, “what do you mean? Were you holding the curse for…” she trails off, her eyes falling to the new form that has entered the room. “S...sasuke-kun,” she quietly murmurs.

“Sakura,” he replies.

“Oh...oh okay - I bet this is him right. I know an Uchiha when I see ‘em,” the man, one Sasuke has never seen before, interjects; his hands thrown in the air in mock exasperation.

Sakura steps around the kitchen counter near Sasuke’s form, “what are you doing here?” she softly asks him.

“I,” he pauses, “we need to talk”.

“Uh oh,” the man interjects, grinning and raising an eyebrow.

Sasuke frowns, and throws the man a look of contempt, “who are you?”

The man stands up from the armchair he’d been lounging in, folds his arms over his chest, “show some respect, boy. I could be your great...uncle”.

“Not likely”.

“You’re an Uchiha, aren’t you?”

Sasuke pauses, “are you...as well?”

The man turns to Sakura, “this is who you’ve settled for?”

Sakura rolls her eyes, “Sasuke-kun, do you...should we go somewhere, else?” her vision slowly glances at her unwanted guest.

“Aren’t you curious about what I have to say, pinky?”

“Yes, but,” Sakura sighs, then turns to Sasuke, “what are you doing here?”

Sasuke blinks, “I…”

“I said for you to not come back”.

“I know”.

“And yet?”

“Sakura, its...you can’t blame me”.

“What?”

“I don’t exactly have that much support out there”.

“If you find that old lady - urgh, I really wish I found out her name. This feels disrespectful”.

“I know you have your faith in her-”

“Not...not by choice. I mean, what else do we have to go off?”

Sasuke pauses, “nothing I guess”.

“Look, I...I didn’t mean to snap at you”.

“Sakura, our plan - I understand you don’t want to reverse this”.

“Actually,” the man in the room - Sakura’s unwanted guest - steps in, “that’d probably work”.

Sasuke and Sakura’s field of vision falls onto the third presence.

Sasuke speaks first, “who are you?”

The man clicks his tongue, somewhat annoyed. Sakura replies, “this, um...this lovely gentleman here is the creator of the genjutsu we find ourselves in”.

“Please,” says the man, “call it a curse, sounds better”.

Sasuke’s interest in the man increases, “wait, you did this?”

“No,” says the man, “I didn’t, I just created the initial genjutsu”.

“And,” Sakura continues, “he’s stuck here”.

“In your...consciousness?” asks Sasuke, turning to Sakura.

“This isn’t my consciousness,” Sakura replies.

Sasuke blinks, uttering his confusion.

The man sighs, “look, let me get you up to speed - your little girlfriend and I are trapped in here because my genjutsu backfired. And the way it works is if this genjutsu backfires on a non-uchiha - not good. But if it backfires on an Uchiha, well, we get stuck in this shared conscious state,” he shoves his hands in his pockets, “to be honest I don’t know all that much about it. I kind of made this genjutsu with one thing in mind but it didn’t really go to plan”.

Sasuke remains quiet. He turns his head slowly to Sakura to confirm the man’s tale. The kunoichi slowly nods.

Sasuke exhales.

.

.

Lee removes a lingering spider web from his hair and shakes it off his hand onto the floor. He feels sorry for the old woman, living in such a manner. Understandably the passage of time tends to take one's agency in being able to do certain tasks that one could do when younger.

During his exploration of the house, he’d found a photo of what may have been the old woman when younger. Something about the shape of her eyes told Lee this was the same woman - dark brown eyes that were searching, and focused. The woman in the photo stood sternly in the black and white faded photo with a black long-sleeved dress, and straight dark hair cut to give her a fringe straight across, with the rest flowing down her back.

He’d continued exploring thereafter, coughing when dust would greet Lee in every new room he’d search.

The house was large, and imposing. It’s design is one of a classical nature; of an era now passed. Cleaning and maintaining this place is clearly no simple task.

Truly, Lee felt sorry for the woman.

He made the resolve to offer her help the next time he sees her - it was the least he could do after breaking in, and trespassing on her property.

Lee stops before a panel, the entrance to the bedroom Sasuke had chosen for Sakura.

He slides it open, and hesitates on the threshold.

There in the bed was both Sasuke and Sakura; silent in their slumber. Sakura’s less by choice than Sasuke’s - no doubt.

Lee approaches, he rounds the side of the bed where Sasuke lay; his lone hand close to Sakura’s, a small crease above his brow.

Lee sighs, “oh Sasuke-san…”

.

.

“What does that mean?” Sasuke exclaims, “why are you playing this vague and mysterious character - no one likes it!”

The man groans, folding his arms tighter in some demonstration of his frustrated state, “really pinky, this is the guy? He’s a complete pill”.

“Her name is Sakura, don’t call her pinky,” Sasuke rebuts.

The man pauses, and raises an eyebrow, coupled with a grin towards the kunoichi, “Sakura...really? That's...convenient”.

Sakura replies sarcastically with a fake laugh. The man shrugs, still grinning, and says how he bets that she’s already heard of the hair-flower link.

Sakura quietly replies, “that's the point”.

The man snorts, “I wanna meet your parents”.

“Hey!” Sasuke interjects, “we’re not done here”.

“Oh yea,” says the man, “look, I’m not being vague - I just don’t know how my jutsu, like, properly works”.

“That’s not possible”.

“Okay smarty pants,” the man shoots back, “can you confidently tell me you know all the intricacies of your own jutsu’s?”

“Yes!”

“Oh,” the man looks towards Sakura sheepishly, “well, uh, I guess I’m just not as good at the ninja arts as him”.

“Stop this,” Sasuke cuts in before Sakura has a chance to even show a sliver of sympathy, “don’t play the victim card. Don’t go off on a tangent. Just tell me everything you know”.

The man groans, mocking anger to contrast well with Sasuke’s growing true form of said emotion.

Sakura breaks the silence, “you know something though, you said...before...that what happened, with everyone being under, wasn’t possible because - you are still here?”

The man regards the kunoichi, “well, it would mean two instances of my genjutsu are running - and that can’t be possible”.

“Why not?” asks Sakura.

The man replies, “I just, I don’t think I designed it that way”.

“You don’t even know,” Sasuke snaps, “how can we take your word about this?”

The man sighs, and takes a step back.

He feigns interest in some of Sakura’s books before turning to the kunoichi to remark, “he isn’t as fun as you”.

Sasuke, ready with a retort at the tip of his tongue bites his sentence off as the man before them snaps his fingers, and changes the area around them.

No longer do they stand in the small living quarters of Sakura’s cottage. Instead, they stand under the awning of an old house, upon the wooden planks that line the outside of the abode. Rain pours heavily; the wood and grass mixing with the dew create a smell that brings Sasuke back to a time from before - for this house looks familiar, almost identical, to his childhood home.

A shoji door is left open partway; inside he sees a young woman sitting upon a mat. Anxiety wracks her expression, her hands twist nervously within her lap. Her blue eyes trained upon another door in the room; expecting it to open any minute. With pale skin, and blonde hair, she reminds Sasuke somewhat of Sakura’s loud, bothersome friend.

Sasuke turns to the kunoichi beside him, confusion envelopes her gaze.

The man, who has presumably brought them here, leans against the wall beside the shoji door. “That woman in there is my love. My first love”.

Sakura frowns, “the one you said, was trapped inside with you?”

“That right,” says the man, “long ago it was just myself, and her, trapped in here - this, shared consciousness-”

“So what?” Sasuke interjects, “why have you brought us here - and how?”

The man’s expression morphs, perhaps for the first time, to true anger, “will you calm down, junior! I’m explaining - urgh, she is the reason this genjutsu exists. I created it for her”.

“Why?” says Sakura.

The man turns to the kunoichi, calming his expression, “because I loved her. I wanted to show her how much I loved her. What we could do together - what I could provide her. I wanted to show her quickly,” he takes a peek into the room, and frowns, “this is early on, I was going to introduce her to my parents - which, pink..._ Sakura _, you already know was a bit of a problem”.

Sasuke frowns, “why would that be a problem?”

“Because he was engaged to another woman,” Sakura replies.

The man shrugs, then clicks his fingers - effectively stopping the environment around them. The woman is frozen in place with her look of growing worry. The other door in the room is stopped before coming to a complete open, as what would be the man’s parents entering the room.

The rain drops around them suspend in a freakish display of the man’s control of the environment. The sounds of any life outside themselves are paused.

Sasuke breaks the silence first, “you were engaged to another woman?”

The man nods, “yep, didn’t love her though. Not sure how far in the future I’m speaking to here, but back then in the Uchiha clan, arranged marriages were common. They were the norm”.

Sasuke quietly replies, “that tradition was still around when I was a kid”.

The man hums, “depending on how far in the future you mean, that could be a real bummer”.

Sakura cuts in, “how far apart do you think our times are?”

The man replies that he hasn’t a clue, “hard to keep track of time in here. I don’t remember much - and unfortunately that kind of extends to the intricacies of this, curse. But I remember getting trapped in here, with Reina,” his eyes flash towards the now frozen form of the woman in the room, “I loved her, so she, as an Uchiha, shared this reality with me. Then one day I stopped loving her, so she went away. I’m presuming to her own consciousness - I bet it was one where I didn’t exist”.

“Which means,” Sakura continues, “after a month…”

“Right,” says the man, “I don’t think I could ever wake up and find her again, I think it's far too late”.

A lull passes, Sakura deep in concentration whilst looking at the woman’s frozen form.

Sasuke had another matter in mind, “why did you fall out of love with her?”

The man smiles upon being asked this, “I thought Sakura would ask this question, after all, she has more to worry about regarding a certain _ someone _falling out of-”

“She doesn’t,” Sasuke remarks, without hesitation.

He can feel Sakura beside him shift upon her feet. Peripherally, he notes her cheeks slowly begin to match the hue of her hair.

The man chuckles, “boy, you sure are full of surprises. So confident”.

“Answer the question”.

“...it’s not important”.

Sasuke frowns, “you really are testing my patience”.

The man sighs, “why do you want to know?”

Instead of snapping back, Sasuke decides to mull on this response. He takes in the man’s demeanour; he fidgets somewhat “it’s embarrassing, isn’t it?”

The man bumbles, “whaaaa…..”

“Was she unfaithful?”

Sakura turns to Sasuke, a quizzical look upon her gaze. His deduction was quick, he will admit - however what Sasuke did not expect was to guess correctly on his first go.

Sheepishly, and with a hint of annoyance, the man answers, “yes, she was”.

Sakura’s line of sight snaps towards the man, “how? I mean, in this shared consciousness?”

“It was before that,” admits the man, “before this, before being trapped,” he pauses, frowning, “but I loved her - still. Even after, even after she...I didn’t see it as _ her _ wrong I saw it as _ my _ wrong. I wasn’t living up to my full potential, or something equally stupid. She did what she did because I wasn’t good enough” he turns back to the frozen woman once more, a look of conflict is upon his expression this time, “it's funny what time can offer you. In the beginning, being here with her felt more like a blessing than a curse. But, I wasn’t in the wrong. She was. _ She _ was wrong”.

.

.

_ What did she mean by “it worked?” _ \- Kiba mulls, jumping from a rooftop, landing cleanly, and continuing on in a motion that was second nature to him.

Close behind him was Naruto.

For some reason.

Kiba stops, and turns to the blond shinobi, “okay, this is way too much of a coincidence now - you have to be following me”.

Naruto takes a step closer after landing; grinning from ear to ear, “nuh uh, I just happened to need to go the same way as you”.

“You’re lying!”

“I’m not”.

Kiba sighs, “okay fine, well, I’m taking a break so I guess see ya cause you’re going somewhere I’m not going”.

Naruto slouches his posture; hands behind his head, “I’m taking a break too”.

“Oh you’re so full of it!”

“So,” Naruto continues, ignoring Kiba’s annoyance, “where are ya heading?”

“Why do you wanna know?”

“Oh come on, Kiba!” Naruto exclaims, “you and Sasuke have been acting really weird. Like, since when are you two close anyway? The bastard doesn’t even remember the names of most of the people from our old class - except me of course”.

Kiba pauses, “...and probably Sakura?”

Naruto snorts, “I mean, maybe. Can’t be sure though”.

“Whatever,” Kiba remarks, “I’m not close with that bastard, we just...have a shared goal. But after all this I couldn’t care less if he jumped off a cliff!”

“I would!”

“As in...you wouldn’t care...more?”

“Yea, I...wait”

“Wait what...did I say?”

“You wouldn’t…” Naruto narrows his gaze, “I’m saying I would care if Sasuke jumped off a cliff”.

Kiba pauses, “yea and I wouldn’t...so what are you worried about?!”

Naruto frowns, his mind running for the next thing to say, “I’m also worried about Sakura-chan”.

“She’s at the bathhouse”.

“No she isn’t dog-boy! I know Sasuke took her!”

“Look,” says Kiba, “I know about as much as you do”.

“No you don’t!” Naruto retorts, “you're keeping a secret from me, I know it! You and Sasuke which makes it even worse”.

Kiba chuckles, shaking his head, “dude, you sound almost jealous-”

“I am!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just want to say a lot of the comments on my previous chapters are so amazing, and lovely to read. Thanks guys!!


	8. Chapter 8

_ ~ _

_ Naruto stares at the few bubbles left in his drink, his downcast expression reflected upon his glass, and the bar - what a place to spend his Thursday night. _

_ Kakashi had sent him a hawk again this morning. Some long-winded message about needing to show up to designated meetings - or something like that. Truth be told, Naruto had not read past the first paragraph. _

_ He was here, wasn’t he? A diplomat’s presence in the city of Konoha’s desired partnership is more than expected. _

_ They could have coordinated this whole endeavour through letters but no - he was here - this is more than should be expected. So who was Kakashi to send him that letter? He was doing his job, and then after, what he did after clock-out, was his business. _

_ His drinks paid for by himself, his choice of company - paid for by  _ ** _himself_ ** _ . _

_ Every other day. A new girl, a different girl. But they needed the right look - or, they needed to be willing to take on the  _ ** _right_ ** _ look. _

_ “I see you’re here once more,” a calming voice from his right greets Naruto, the owner of said voice taking a seat beside him. _

_ She orders water, and turns to Naruto with a wry smile. _

_ Naruto looks to regard her. Those dark brown eyes, serious with their intent - she stares him down. For Naruto, at times, it unnerves him in a way he just cannot pinpoint. _

_ “Hey,” Naruto slurs, “I’m...just thinking”. _

_ “About her?” she asks. _

_ Naruto nods solemnly. _

_ “I thought you had a plan to get your mind off her?” _

_ “I did”. _

_ “And?” _

_ “Well,” Naruto pauses, running his thumb over the rim of his glass, “I...well I make them look like her so…” _

_ “Why would you do that?” _

_ “You...look, you don’t get it”. _

_ “I might”. _

_ “You don’t understand what I feel for her, and to just see him - treat her like, like…” _

_ “I understand,” the woman offers, softly, patiently waiting for this to process through the inebriated blond. _

_ Naruto blinks, “what, you’ve been in love?” _

_ The woman smiles, “I have, many, many years ago but, in a way, he is still in my heart”. _

_ Naruto chuckles, throwing his head back. The bartender shoots the blond a dirty look but Naruto is far too gone to notice it. “Okay,” Naruto continues, “many years ago? - you can’t be much older than I am”. _

_ “Looks can be deceiving”. _

_ “Yea right!” _

_ “Well, in any case, I hope you handled it better than I did”. _

_ “Is banging hooker’s henged like the girl I like a better reaction - cause if not...then I lose”. _

_ The woman before him makes a somewhat disgusted expression, but hides it well. She tucks a strand of her dark hair behind her ear, “we all deal with, loss...differently”. _

_ “Sure,” says Naruto, “why not”. _

_ “I mean, is she really that special?” _

_ Naruto sighs, a goofy grin plastered upon his expression, “you haven’t seen her, she’s the prettiest girl you’ve ever seen”. _

_ The woman tenses, her shoulders stiften, “that shouldn’t be all there is, pretty girls aren’t everything”. _

_ “But she is”. _

_ “What else is she good for?” _

_ Naruto shrugs, and laughs into his drink without taking a sip. Then, the blond sits up straight, as if a jolt of lighting passes through his spine, “oh, how did you handle it?” _

_ “Pardon?” _

_ “You said, you're going through something similar - or you did once?” _

_ The woman smiles, absentmindedly, she plays with a spare coaster, “oh, well, my love - or well, who would have been my love was actually engaged to me. But, he loved another woman”. _

_ “What!” exclaims Naruto, “what a dog!” _

_ “It's not his fault,” says the woman, “we were arranged, you see. It was common, back then - I mean...it was common for the clan. In any case, I loved him...but he loved another”. _

_ “That sucks,” Naruto sympathises. _

_ “It was unfortunate. But that woman, she...she was beautiful. In a way that I would never be”. _

_ “Hey now,” Naruto offers, softly, “I bet in some angles she looked like a real uggo”. _

_ The woman frowns, “...well, in any case, she wasn’t the problem. In the end, he did not want to be with me. But she didn’t really want to be with him either - she was unfaithful”. _

_ “Oh wow - popcorn story,” Naruto slurs. _

_ The woman rolls her eyes, “I suppose you want to know how I handled all this, well - one day, he came to me. Tears, distraught, and asked me to perform something for him. Something he could never get right. He wanted me to do it, for himself, and the woman that he loved”. _

_ “And you said no, right,” Naruto pushes on. _

_ The woman shakes her head, “I said yes, and in the end, he ended up happy with her, for eternity - I mean, that’s what I believe. However for me, I...lost my future. In a way, I am now forever tied to him”. _

_ “What do you mean?” says Naruto. _

_ The woman sighs, pauses, then frowns, “you know, I see a bit of myself in you”. _

_ Naruto snorts, “I’m not some gloomy broad, ya know”. _

_ “Charming”. _

_ “Ah, sorry - you know what I mean”. _

_ The woman pauses, “you know, I think I know of a deal we could make - one that could benefit us both”. _

_ ~ _

.

.

“Well thats just stupid,” Sasuke says, breaking the tension-filled silence.

Sakura looks to him in shock, her expression reading the intent of -  _ ‘I know he’s kind of a jerk but that was unnecessarily cruel’ _

The man however smirks, “you think I’m stupid”.

“No I think all of this is stupid,” Sasuke remarks, “we’re stuck here in a broken genjutsu because of your hang-ups about your unfaithful ex-fiance”.

“Sasuke-kun,” Sakura begins, but is cut off but the man.

He reassures her, “no, your boyfriend is right. In regards to how the Uchiha deal with love - what I’ve done, is broken, and unstable”.

“And you have no idea how to fix it”.

“I didn’t say that”.

Sasuke raises a brow, “how do you fix it”.

“Well...I mean - this is a backfire so it’s out of my hands”.

“What?”

“What…” the man blinks, “like your girl...I mean Sakura. Genjutsu backfired on her, mine on me-”

“By who?” Sasuke prods.

The man shakes his head, “by  _ whom _ ?”

“His fiance,” Sakura fills in, “he says, or rather, he told me before you got here. His fiance forced this genjutsu upon him”.

Sasuke nods, then turns his glare back onto the man, “why? Because you were unfaithful to her the way your girl was to you,” he points to the motionless woman inside the room.

The man frowns, “she...forced it upon me...I didn’t do anything wrong”. He runs a hand through his hair, his thoughts caught up.

This behaviour perplexes Sasuke, “yea, we’ve established that”.

But the man continues to ignore Sasuke. Sakura frowns at his sudden distance, she has seen something like this before, “hey,” she speaks, softly, “ _ did _ she force you in here?”

The man’s jaw clenches shut, his head snaps up, his eyes lock onto Sakura’s. His intensity causes the kunoichi to take half a step back.

The man speaks slowly, “Sakura,” he says, “who forced you here?”

Sakura blinks, “what,” she pauses, “no one...I mean, I suppose I did this to myself”.

“But you did it willingly?”

“I...yea”.

The man frowns once more, “but...she must have done this to me. It had to be through force”.

Sasuke, growing agitated with the conversation, snaps his fingers, “hey, stop daydreaming”.

The man’s expression morphs; his soft demeanour with Sakura shifts to one of contempt for Sasuke, “you want a way out of here, don’t you junior?”

His aversion to the term ‘junior’ aside, Sasuke grunts out a yes.

The man turns to Sakura then, throwing the kunoichi an apologetic smile, “I know she forced me - I wouldn’t have done this to myself”.

Sakura hesitantly asks, “what are you talking about?”

The man sighs, and looks towards the frozen form of his ex-lover, then back to Sakura, “I just need to know for sure, sorry kid,” then, with the click of his fingers, he was gone.

“Hey!” Sasuke exclaims, the vacant spot of the man all he has left to yell at.

Sakura blinks, trying to gather the actions of the man, “wait...did he just leave us here?”

.

.

“She said, ‘ _ it worked _ ’, after you notified her of Sakura-chan’s demise?” Lee asks, tilting his head to one side, duster held in his left hand.

Kiba rolls his eyes, and smacks the duster out of Lee’s hand, remarking that this isn’t the time to clean some old lady’s house.

Lee counters saying that as guests here, they should at least take the time to clean if possible, “you know Kiba-san, tasks such as these are difficult to perform when one gets older, it's simply a good notion to maintain that to help one's elders is a noble thing to do”.

“Yea, especially after we breaking and entering into that ‘ _ elders’ _ house”.

Lee pauses, “if anything, that circumstance justifies that notion even moreso”.

Kiba holds himself back from yelling, he calms, “okay, well, that would be a great idea to keep helping, Lee - if this old lady weren’t suspicious as hell!”

Lee frowns, “it is odd that she said that”.

“Right?”

“Although, did she say that? Or are you misremembering?”

“No, she was clear, she wanted Sakura asleep”.

Lee pauses, he uses his free hand to stroke his chin in contemplation.

Kiba rolls his eyes.

“Hmm,” Lee hums, “I have a theory”.

“Okay…”

“It, well, I hope it isn’t true”.

“Lee! Spit it out!”

Lee huffs, “well, I thought perhaps that with this curse’s functions not being entirely known it may be the case that this curse cannot be contained”.

“So...okay…”

“And, if that were the case, someone would always need to be sacrificed. At first, it was the whole of the fire nation - but now, due to Sakura-chan’s chakra reserves, and sacrifice, it's her”.

Kiba pauses, “...that’s a stupid theory”.

“Yea, you are probably right”.

“I don’t know, doesn’t sound that strange,” Naruto replies from the back of the room where he had been designated to sit.

Lee turns back to Kiba, “you were not able to give Naruto the slip?”

Kiba shakes his head, “look...he’s like, strangely a good ninja. Sometimes”.

Lee nods, then turns to Naruto, “Naruto-san, do you know of a way to stop what’s going on?”

“What is going on?” the blond inquires, blinking twice.

Lee turns back to Kiba, “does he know whats going-”

“Not a clue,” Kiba sighs.

.

.

“If we keep walking,” Sasuke begins, “eventually we’ll hit your cottage, right?”

Unnervingly, the moment a frozen droplet is touched, its motion returns becoming a normal water droplet once more - this is noticed by Sasuke only after he takes a few steps to get his cloak drenched.

Sakura remains under the pergola, “Sasuke-kun, we don’t need to get back to my cottage”.

Sasuke stops walking, frowns, and turns around, “what?”

“We don’t need to go back to my cottage - I mean, it doesn’t even exist. We just need to brainstorm an idea on how to get back”.

“Right,” says Sasuke, “it's just, this place is...weird”.

The frozen time capsule of his lost village - Sakura could understand wanting to leave. “Right,” she says, “no yea, we’ll leave”.

The oddness of how the rain drenches their clothes is a phenomenon the pair get used to pretty quickly - until they don’t need to. Outside the Uchiha compound, the rain clouds no longer hover above. However the rest of Konoha is empty, sketchy - unfinished

“I guess he didn’t feel like filling in the rest of the world,” Sasuke remarks.

Sakura shrugs, “it isn’t like he intended for us to go this far”.

Sasuke nods, then turns to face the kunoichi, “Sakura,” he begins, “should we wake you?”

Sakura pauses, “that man said that it may work - but then again,  _ he _ said it may work”.

“It would put us to square one, which is fine”.

“Well, not really”.

Sasuke nods, exhaling, “a lot of exposition for nothing really - knowing the origins of the genjutsu hasn’t really taught us how to release it”.

“It’s taught us that the creator himself is clueless,” says Sakura, then, she adds, “except it kind of seems like he’s lost his memories a bit - not that I blame him. Don’t know how long he’s been here”.

“What do you mean?” asks Sasuke.

“Before,” Sakura replies, “he was sure that his fiance forced this genjutsu upon him, but when we questioned him, he seemed...unsure”.

“Wait,” Sasuke pauses, groaning angrily, “this is the genjutsu…”

Sakura nods, “yea, we’ve established that”.

“No,” says Sasuke, frowning and looking away, “We’ve been looking at this wrong Sakura. We keep approaching this as if the genjutsu is the curse that everyone was trapped under - but that’s not it. The genjutsu is this, being trapped with someone you care about for eternity - willingly. Before, we were performing the genjutsu and I trapped you here. And that idiot had the fiance that he didn’t care about trap him in here - we’re all coming at this imbalanced”.

“And so…” Sakura continues, “everyone getting trapped is the fault of improper release, not summoning”.

“Yep - and that makes this guy a complete idiot,” Sasuke continues, “the technique that we used was reckless to say the least. I figured it was a release jutus so it shouldn’t be a big deal - but it was the damn technique”.

“That woman was the one that gave me the technique…”

Sasuke turns to Sakura, “maybe she didn’t know”.

“Or maybe she did?”

“Sasuke pauses, “it's probably smart not to trust her”.

“But,” Sakura pauses, “she seems too kind”.

“That doesn’t mean anything”.

“But it doesn't add up”.

“Sakura…”

“What would she have to gain by putting me under?”

.

.

~

_ Naruto laughs, “what, a genjutsu, how would that help?” _

_ The woman shakes her hair, her dark eyes prodding for the inebriated man to sober up and listen properly, “just think, she will be with you always, whenever you want. You simply go into her world, and spend as long as you want with her, whenever you want”. _

_ “And what?” says Naruto, “I just keep her sleeping...somewhere”. _

_ “You can dispel the genjutsu if you want, but it's a powerful one - however with your bloodline it shouldn’t be a problem”. _

_ “And what do you get out of it?” Naruto slurs, “I find it hard to believe you’ll just do all for free”. _

_ “In a way, you’ll be setting me free. My link to the genjutsu will start to weaken, I’ll finally be able to let go of him,” the woman says, smiling softly, “it's time for me to move on”. _

_ Naruto frowns, “uh, so what do ya need?” _

_ The blond’s willingness appears to please the young woman who allows a smile to creep upon her dark red lips, “well, her name for a start”. _

_ Naruto sighs, “Haruno Sakura”. _

_ “Hmm, not a clan girl, it seems”. _

_ “Nah,” Naruto remarks, “hey, how did you learn about this genjutsu anyway?” _

_ “My fiance taught me”. _

_ “What?” Naruto frowns, “the scrub? Why?” _

_ “I told you, it was my last favour to him”. _

_ “Yea but...it's really powerful”. _

_ “The Uchiha are known to be”. _

_ Naruto blinks, “the Uchiha, wha...they’re not even around anymore”. _

_ The woman nods, “yes, I know”. _

_ “Well, except for Sasuke”. _

_ “Sasuke?” _

_ “Yea…she likes him”. _

_ She frowns, “An Uchiha?” _

_ Naruto nods. _

_ “It's...not reciprocated, I hope”. _

_ Naruto snorts, “hell no! Sasuke isn’t about that life - but who cares, your genjutsu will fix that, right?” _

_ The woman shifts uncomfortably, “as long as it isn’t reciprocated”. _

_ “Why would it matter?” _

_ “It...well,” she pauses, “this genjutsu doesn’t really work on, unwilling Uchiha”. _

_ Naruto barks out a laugh, “she ain’t an Uchiha, she’s just a civilian girl...no wait, I mean, she doesn’t have a clan”. _

_ The woman nods, slowly, “if you say so”. _

_ ~ _


End file.
